Folio. 1540 Works of St. Basil, Omnia D. Basilii Magni. Froben, Basel

The Works of St. Basil, printed as four books, but sharing one pagination. Folio.

Curious provenance, a title page note regarding a Cistercian order of Sancto Albino in the 18th century; possibly Sant' Albino in Mortara Italy.

While not rare, Universal Short Title Catalogue entry 679546 shows no copies in N. America.

About Basil -

"Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great (circa 330 – 379), was a bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). He was an influential theologian who supported the Nicene Creed and opposed the heresies of the early Christian church, fighting against both Arianism and the followers of Apollinaris of Laodicea. His ability to balance his theological convictions with his political connections made Basil a powerful advocate for the Nicene position."

"In addition to his work as a theologian, Basil was known for his care of the poor and underprivileged. Basil established guidelines for monastic life which focus on community life, liturgical prayer, and manual labor. Together with Pachomius, he is remembered as a father of communal monasticism in Eastern Christianity. He is considered a saint by the traditions of both Eastern and Western Christianity."

"Basil, together with his brother Gregory of Nyssa and his friend Gregory of Nazianzus, are collectively referred to as the Cappadocian Fathers. He is recognized as a Doctor of the Church in the Roman Catholic Church."

Physical Attributes -

Folio. Measures approx. 32.5 x 21.5 x 5 cm. Leather binding. Spine with six raised bands, compartments with some faded gilt tooling. Edges sprinkled. Several printer's marks of Froben. Book divided into four volumes, but sharing pagination. Some inhabited initials.

Pages - (viii), 758, one blank leaf (Rr6), [12 leaves of index/printer's mark]

Collation - a-z6, A-Z6, Aa-Qq6, Rr8, Ss-Tt6

Condition -

See pictures. Binding very worn; wormholes, rubbing, edge and corner wear, some cracking at joints and spine, crazing and loss of gilt to spine, etc. Renewed endpapers, but still old repair. Bookseller notes on endpaper, one blank endpaper removed at gutter at front.

Title page with old ex libris inscriptions and coloring to the printer's mark. Thumbing, toning, occasional small worm hole, dog-eared pages, page-edge chip, etc. throughout. 1st three leaves with chip from bottom corner. A small water intrusion mark from bottom corner but stays mostly marginal (fore-edge). Some marginal annotations. A few errant ink marks/blots. Remainder corner on page 596 (not trimmed by binder). Near rear marginal moisture lines along fore-edge margin and top corner (marginal). Some underlining and graphite "x" marks. Last printer's mark, last printed page, with (wax?) on it. Hole in rear flyleaf (2") where similar material was removed.