Erasmus (Desiderius).- Hieronymus (Saint) Opus

Erasmus (Desiderius).- Hieronymus (Saint) Opus epistolarum, edited by Desiderius Erasmus, 3 vol. in 1, collation: Aa-Bb8 AA8 BB6 Cc6 a-r8 s10 t-x8 y6; A-Z8 AE10; aa-qq8 rr10 (Tabulae and Index Scholarium (Aa BB8 Cc6) bound at end of vol.3), Roman and Greek type, first title in red and black, all titles with woodcut printer's device and within woodcut architectural border, late 16th / early 17th century neat ink marginalia, couple of holes to lower margin of first title caused by ink ownership inscription, some spotting and staining, lightly browned (occasionally a little heavier), modern board binding using a leaf from a 16th century antiphonary, preserved in a modern buckram drop-back box, [Lyon], [Jean Crespin], 1528; and a censored copy of the same work in a contemporary blind-stamped binding (not collated), 4to (first mentioned 202 x 132mm.) (2)

⁂ Rare edition at auction of this important patristic work. Offered here with a rare opportunity of comparison with a censored copy of the same work (passages of text obliterated in ink and some leaves removed or partly excised). One wonders if the vigorous censor was spurred on by the notion that Erasmus had 'laid the egg that Luther hatched'.