EUSEBIUS

£7,500 · Offered by Sokol Books

Splendid copy of the important editio princeps of this collection of Greek works concerning the history of the Christian Church, in a handsome contemporary English binding. This edition of the Historia Ecclesiastica marks the first appearance of a full text printed in the grecs du roi font, the Greek types of the king . It was commissioned by King Francis I of France (1494-1547) one of the few monarchs ever to take a keen personal interest in printing from Robert Estienne, and cut by the famous type designer Claude Garamond (1510-1561). The cursive Greek types, still acknowledged as some of the finest ever cut, were based on the script of the calligrapher Angelo Vergezio, who was then engaged in transcribing and cataloguing Greek manuscripts for the Royal Library (Harward French C16). Appointed Printer to the King for Latin, Hebrew and Greek texts, Estienne was the first printer granted permission to use this font. Due to the beauty, elegance and exactness of alignment, the grecs du roi has been defined unsurpassable (Proctor), and Estienne s Greek editions as among the most finished specimens of typography that exist (Tilley). The charming initials and headpieces are also noteworthy: some scholars attribute them to the French engraver Geoffroy Tory (c. 1480-1533), others believe that they are slightly later in date and derive from the same manuscript source as the type. This is the first of eight editiones principes printed by Estienne, the text was based on unpublished Gree

• Binding: Hardcover

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.