HEIRIC of Auxerre.

Paris, Simonem Colinaeum, 1543. 8vo. 72 ll. The title page with Colines’ wood cut device. Some spotting on the title. Somewhat worn red 19th century morocco, gilt spine with raised bands, boards with gilt frame, all edges gilt. From the library of the bibliophile Richard Heber with his library stamp ”Bibliotheca Heberiana”. OCLC 19982789. Renouard, Bibliographie des édition de Simon de Colines p. 377. Graesse III, 249. Goldschmidt, Medieval texts and their first appearance in print, p. 70. First printing, editio princeps, of the hexameter poem ”Vita divi Germani” written in the 9th century by the French benedictine theologian and writer Heiric (Hericus) of Auxerre (841–876). It’s a poem on the life of St. Germanus of Auxerre, or Saint Germain l'Auxerrois, (c.378–c.448 AD), bishop of Auxerre, and famous for his visits to Britain and the struggles with Pelagianism. The text is edited by Pierre Pesselier. ”One of the greatest monuments of Carolingian poetry is the Vita divi Germani, composed in hexameters by Heric d’Auxerre in 873. Its first printed edition is one of Simon de Colines’s gracefully printed octavos, Paris 1543, and Heric’s epic is edited by Piere Pesselier with a preface in which he stresses the antiquity of the manuscript he has transcribed and the historical value of the poem.” (Goldschmidt). From the large library of the great bibliophile and one of the founder of the Roxburghe club Richard Heber (1773-1833). At his death his collection in England was estimated by Dibdin at 105.000 volumes. They were sold at Sothebys during the years 1834-37 with printed catalogues.