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4to. 4 volumes in 1: (VIII),93,(13),(2 blank) p. (XIX),43,(3),(1 blank), 69,(11) p. (VIII),132 p. (XXIV),48 p. Vellum 20.5 cm (Ref: Ad 1: STCN ppn 852560893; Rademaker no. 25. Ad 2: STCN ppn 852560826; Rademaker no. 26. Ad 3: STCN: ppn 852371721; Rademaker no. 40. Ad 4: STCN ppn. 852369301) (Details: 6 thongs laced through the joints. 4 title pages, of which 3 have a printer's mark, and 2 are printed in red and black) (Condition: Vellum age-tanned and slightly warped. Short table of content written in an old hand on the verso of the first flyleaf. Small wormhole (almost invisible) in the blank lower margin of first 100 leaves) (Note: Gerardus Joannes Vossius, 1577-1649, was according to Sandys 'the greatest Polyhistor of his time'. In 1622 he was appointed professor of 'Eloquentiae' at Leiden University, and in 1631 professor of History at Amsterdam. In this city he had the opportunity to apply himself to the study of the Bible and the history of the ancient Church. Vossius earned for himself with his theological works the title 'father of modern credal studies'. He applied in his theological studies a philological method 'to an area of scholarship which during his time had hardly been entered, and which in that period of church conflict was generally regarded as very dangerous territory. Vossius had the courage to be the first to take a completely new path'. (C.S. Rademaker, Life and Work of Gerardus Joannes Vossius', Assen 1981, p. 322) Vossius' approach was purely philological. He subjected the relevant texts to a literary and historical criticism. Ad 1: In 1642 Vossius published a study on the creeds. Concerning the 'Symbolum Apostolicum' (Apostles' Creed) he comes to a for that time daring conclusion: 'The Apostles' Creed was not drawn up by the apostles themselves but came into existence in the congregation of Rome and was framed by the bishop and clergy of Rome as compendium of the doctrine of the apostles'. (Idem, p. 319) Concerning the 'Symbolum' attributed to the Church Father Athanasius he proves on philological grounds that the creed was not written by Athanasius, but that it was only a patchwork of his formulations. (Idem, p. 320) Concerning the 'Symbolum Constantinopolitanum' he proves that this 'Symbolum' was not framed by the Council of Constantinople (381), but was in fact an elaboration on the Nicean Creed (325). (Idem, p. 320) Ad 2: The second work in this convolute treats the exegetical problems presented by the genealogies of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. Vossius 'discusses the many and complex problems connected to establish the year of Jesus' birth chronologically'. (Idem, p. 313) Ad 3: This work on chronology was published posthumeously by Vossius' son Isaac, 1618-1689. In it Vossius examines the divisions in history made by Hesiodus (gold, silver, bronze and iron age) and the scheme of the four monarchies of the prophecy of Daniel. Vossius rejected a prophetic prediction of the end of the world in the year 2000 AD, at the end of history. (Idem, p. 310/11) Ad 4: In 1659 the German historian Georg Horn (latinized as Georgius Hornius) published in Leiden, where he occupied from 1653 the prestigious chair of History, a chronological 'dissertatio de vera aetate mundi'. Horn had developped an interest in the history of religion and in secular history from a theological point of view. With his 'dissertatio de vera aetate mundi' started a long polemic with Isaac Vossius. The quarrel was about the date of creation. The dispute was whether the Hebrew or the Greek text of the Old Testament gave a more reliable chronology, for the world was according to the Septuaginta a millennium or more older than the Hebrew Bible said. Hundreds of scholars in the 16th and 17th century made different calculations. Isaac Vossius e.g. dated the Deluge according to the Septuaginta numbering of years, but Hornius was in favour of the Hebrew text. Vossius concluded that the Biblical text was unreliable. Hornius warned for the consequ. Seller Inventory # 130109
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Bibliographic Details
Title: Gerardi Ioannis Vossii Dissertationes tres ...
Publisher: Ad 1: Amsterdam (Amsterdami), Apud Iohannem Blaeu, 1642. Ad 2: Amsterdam (Amsterdami), Apud Iohannem Blaeu, 1643. Ad 3 & 4: The Hague (Hagae-Comitis), Ex typographia Adriani Vlacq, 1659.
Publication Date: 1642
