Antiquarian books — Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts including Americana
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Jean Charlier de Gerson was a French academic, theologian, preacher and politician of the 14th and 15th centuries.
Jean Charlier de Gerson was Chancellor of the University of Paris from 1395 until 1415, and as such played a major role in the political troubles between the Duke of Orleans and the Duke of Burgundy, subsequently known as the Armagnacs and Burgundians, as well as in the crisis arising from the Great Western Schism.
Werner Rolewinck (Latin: Wernerus Rolewinkius) was a German chronicler, historian, and theologian.
Werner Rolewinck was a Cartesian monk. His best known and most important work is Fasciculus temporum, a history from the creation of the world to Pope Sixtus IV. Already during his lifetime this work was republished many times in Latin, French, Dutch, and German. Drawing on major Christian historiographical sources such as Orosius and Eusebius, Fasciculus presents the history of the world in the form of a genealogy, a traditional historiographical structure dating back to late antiquity.
Another famous work by Rolewink is a description of the manners and customs of his homeland entitled De laude veteris Saxsoniæ nunc Westphaliæ dictæ.
Augustine of Hippo (Latin: Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings influenced the development of Western philosophy and Western Christianity, and he is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers of the Latin Church in the Patristic Period.
Augustine is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. He is also a preeminent Catholic Doctor of the Church and the patron of the Augustinians.
Thomas Aquinas (Italian: Tommaso d'Aquino, also called Aquinas, alias Doctor Angelicus) was an Italian poet and theologian, philosopher, and major medieval scholastic.
Thomas Aquinas is one of the most important theologians in the history of Western civilization, given the extent of his influence on the development of Roman Catholic theology since the fourteenth century. As a theologian, in his two masterpieces, Summa theologiae and Summa contra gentiles, he created the classical systematization of Latin theology, and as a poet, he wrote some of the most serious and beautiful Eucharistic hymns in the church liturgy. Thomas Aquinas is recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as the foremost Western philosopher and theologian and canonized as a saint.
Aristotle (Greek: Ἀριστοτέλης) was an Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath, renowned for his profound impact on Western philosophy and science. Born in Stagira, Chalcidice, Aristotle's intellectual ventures spanned a multitude of subjects, including but not limited to physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology.
Educated in Plato's Academy in Athens, Aristotle distinguished himself as a scholar of vast knowledge and influence. His foundational works laid the groundwork for the development of modern science, while his teachings on logic and the syllogistic method continue to resonate in the realm of philosophy. As the tutor of Alexander the Great and the founder of the Lyceum in Athens, Aristotle's legacy extends beyond his prolific writings, with his teachings shaping medieval scholarship and influencing both Judeo-Islamic and Christian theologies.
Among Aristotle's notable works, his treatises such as "Nicomachean Ethics," "Politics," "Metaphysics," and "Poetics" have been studied for centuries. His concept of the "Golden Mean," advocating for a balanced and moderate approach to life, remains a cornerstone of ethical philosophy. His ideas on the "Prime Mover" and empirical evidence as a basis for understanding the world laid the foundation for scientific inquiry. Although only about a third of his original output has survived, Aristotle's contributions continue to be a subject of academic study and admiration.
For collectors and experts in art and antiques, the philosophical and scientific principles of Aristotle's works are not just historical artifacts but living ideas that continue to shape our understanding of the world and our place within it. His insights into the "good life" and the pursuit of happiness are as relevant today as they were in ancient Greece.
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Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian humanist scholar, writer and poet of the Early Renaissance.
Boccaccio was the son of a Tuscan merchant who sent him to Naples to study business and law. Giovanni revolved in aristocratic circles there and became acquainted with Petrarch's work. In Naples he wrote his first works of poetry, raising the poetry of Italian minstrelsy to literature. Returning to Florence in 1341, Boccaccio, in addition to the famous book of witty short stories "Decameron" (1348-1353), created many poems, allegories and prose works.
In 1350 at Bocaccio's house in Florence, he met Petrarch, which developed into a friendship. In the last years of his life he concentrated on scholarly works in Latin, including writing De montibus, silvis, fontibus, lacubus..., - this alphabetical list of mountains, forests, rivers and lakes was based on the writings of ancient poets. His other Latin works include the philosophical and historical De claris mulieribus (a collection of biographies of famous women, 1360-74) and De casibus virorum illustrium (On the Fates of Famous Men, 1355-74).
Giovanni Boccaccio had a significant influence on the development of all European culture through his work. Together with Petrarch, he laid the foundations of Renaissance humanism and raised popular literature to the level and status of the ancient classics.
