Title: Dialogorum Sacrorum Libri Quatuor
Author: Sebastian Castellio (Sebastianus Castellio)
Editor & Commentator: Io. Ludolph Bünemann
Publisher: Samuel Benjamin Walther
Place & Year: Leipzig (Lipsiae), 1738
Language: Latin
Binding: Contemporary vellum, worn
Format: 8vo (octavo)
Pages: Complete, includes index and final emblematic page with woodcut crown/flame device
Condition:
- Binding intact but heavily soiled and worn
- Several manuscript notes in Latin on endpapers, likely 18th-century student or clerical marginalia
- Interior pages generally clean with mild toning; final pages slightly spotted
- No missing leaves detected
Description:
This is the 1738 Leipzig edition of Sebastian Castellio’s Dialogorum Sacrorum, a work originally composed to teach Biblical stories in dialogue form to students. Castellio (1515–1563), a controversial Protestant theologian known for his humanist views and opposition to Calvin's doctrine, compiled these dialogues to teach Latin through scriptural narratives.
This later edition was edited by the scholar Io. Ludolph Bünemann, who added philological commentary, critical notes, and a detailed Latin index. The work is pedagogically structured, with each “dialogus” involving Biblical characters and themes—covering Adam, Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Solomon, and others.
The rear matter includes Latin epitaphs and elegies, and the book closes with a beautiful allegorical woodcut. Numerous Latin marginal notes and indexes assist in linguistic and theological study.
Collector Interest:
- Latin theology and pedagogy
- Protestant Reformation & humanist thought
- Early 18th-century Leipzig printing
- Historical marginalia / manuscript annotations
- Ideal for collectors of pre-1800 Latin education or religious dialogue literature
Deutsch: Lehrbuch in lateinischer Sprache mit biblischen Dialogen von Sebastian Castellio. Leipziger Ausgabe von 1738 mit Anmerkungen von Io. Ludolph Bünemann.
Latin theology, Protestant humanism, Castellio, Reformation, Biblical dialogues, early Leipzig printing, educational Latin, Lutheran, vellum binding, 18th-century religious text, Bünemann