THE CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY BY BOETHIUS 1694 [DE CONSOLATIONE PHILOSOPHIAE]

[BOETHIUS; Theodorus PULMANNUS; Conradus RITTERSHUSIUS]. Anicii Manlii Torquati Severini Boethii De Consolatione Philosophiæ, libri v. Post Th. Pulmanni emendationem, jam denuò ad vetustissimas membranas Cunr. Rittershusii I.C. recogniti. Ac Dicati Illust: atque Excell: D.D. Jo: Carlo Grimano, Animosorum Accademiae Mecaenati. Venetiis [Venice], M.DC.XCIV [1694]. Ex Typographia Sanzoniana, Superiorum Permissu.

Leather-bound; five books in one; hardcover; small format sextodecimo (10 x 6 x 2 cm); pp. [8], 247, [1]. Signatures: a⁴ A-P⁸ Q⁴. Latin text with some very occasional Greek. Bound in contemporary vellum; smooth spine with inked titles; initial and terminal blanks; half-title; decorative initial; head- and tail-pieces. Condition: GOOD. Binding tight and secure, the covers well-preserved. Contents complete, some light staining to initial leaves but largely clean and without previous ownership markings.

Notes: A scarce late 17th century miniature edition of The Consolation of Philosophy (Latin: De consolatione philosophiae); a philosophical work by Boethius, written around the year 524 AD. It has been described as the single most important and influential work in the West on Medieval and early Renaissance Christianity, as well as the last great Western work of the Classical Period. The author: Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius, commonly called Boethius (c. 477–524 AD), was a Roman senator, consul, magister officiorum, and Philosopher. He was born about a year after Odoacer deposed the last Roman Emperor and declared himself King of Italy. Boethius entered public service under Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great, who later imprisoned and executed him in 524 on charges of conspiracy to overthrow him. While jailed, Boethius composed his Consolation of Philosophy, a philosophical treatise on fortune, death, and other issues, which became one of the most popular and influential works of the Middle Ages. As the author of numerous handbooks and translator of Aristotle, he became the main intermediary between Classical antiquity and following centuries.