THE BEST EDITION OF ST. JUSTIN'S WORKS

Iustinus, Saint. Tou en agiois Patros emon Joustinou philosophou kai martyros ta Euriskomena panta ... Justini philosophi et martyris Opera quae exstant omnia. Nec non Tatiani adversus Graecos oratio, Athenagorae ... Cum Mss. Codicibus collata, ac novis interpretationibus, notis, admonitionibus & praefatione illustrata, cum Indicibus copiosis. Opera & studio unius ex Monachis Congregationis S. Mauri. Venetiis : apud Augustinum Savioli, 1747.

Folio, contemporary stiff vellum, pp. [4], CXX, 668, XL. Title-page printed in red and black, text in Greek and Latin.

Sumptuous and important Venetian edition of St. Justin's collected works, the best philological edition ever published.

Justin Martyr, also known as Saint Justin (c. 100–165 AD), was an early Christian apologist, and is regarded as the foremost interpreter of the theory of the Logos in the 2nd century. He was martyred, alongside some of his students, and is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue did survive. The First Apology, his most well known text, passionately defends the morality of the Christian life, and provides various ethical and philosophical arguments to convince the Roman emperor, Antoninus, to abandon the persecution of the fledgling sect. Further, he also makes the theologically-innovative suggestion that the "seeds of Christianity" (manifestations of the Logos acting in history) actually predated Christ's incarnation. This notion allows him to claim many historical Greek philosophers (including Socrates and Plato), in whose works he was well studied, as unknowing Christians.

References: IT\ICCU\MODE\027997. Dibdin I, 181 (quoting the Paris edition of 1742): «This is by far the best edition, in all repects, and [...] was reprinted at Venice in 1747, folio». Hoffmann II, 503. OCLC 6270688.

A very fine copy.