Psalmists and (or) polemicists
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- Yahoo (News) of a Colonial Hymnal could fetch $m(30?) ; dates back to 1640
Ancient Astrology Theory and Practice: M - Page 258 - Google Books Result books.google.com/books?isbn=1933303107 J. Firmicus Maternus - 2005 - Body, Mind & Spirit . But if both Saturn and Mars are in the seventh house and the Partof Fortune is either ... If the Moon is on the MC, Mars is on the ascendant, and Saturn is on the ...
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Hymnal that dates to 1640 could fetch $30M
Tiny hymnal from 1640, possibly first book printed in what is now the US, could fetch $30M
By Ula Ilnytzky, Associated Press | Associated Press – 3 hrs ago
NEW YORK (AP) -- A tiny hymnal from 1640 believed to be the first book ever printed in what is now the United States is going up for auction, and it could sell for as much as $30 million.
Only 11 copies of the Bay Psalm Book survive in varying degrees of completeness. Members of Boston's Old South Church have authorized the sale of one of its two copies at Sotheby's Nov. 26.
"It's a spectacular book, arguably one of the most important books in this nation's history," said the Rev. Nancy Taylor, senior minister and CEO of the church, which was established in 1669. Samuel Adams was a member and Benjamin Franklin was baptized there.
At one time, the church owned five copies of the 6-by-5-inch hymnal. One is now at the Library of Congress, another at Yale University and a third at Brown University.
Taylor says the church voted to sell one of its two remaining copies— both in "excellent condition" — to increase its grants, ministries and "strengthen our voice in general as a progressive Christian church."
The book was published in Cambridge, Mass., by the Puritan leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It came just 20 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth.
The hymnal was supposed to be a faithful translation into English of the original Hebrew psalms — puritans believed selected paraphrases would compromise their salvation. The 1,700 copies were printed on a press shipped over from London.
A yellowed title page, adorned with decorative flourishes, reads: "The Whole Booke of Psalmes, Faithfully Translated into English Metre." At the bottom, it says: "Imprinted 1640."
Historians believe an almanac may have come off the press before the Bay Psalm Book. But Mark Dimunation, chief of rare books and special collections at the Library of Congress, says the almanac was more of a pamphlet or a broadsheet rather than a book. No copy of the almanac exists today. He notes that in the Americas, in general, books were printed in what is now Mexico as early as 1539.
The Bay Psalm Book is "an iconic piece. It's the beginning of literate America," said Dimunation. "American poetry, American spirituality and the printed page all kind of combine and find themselves located in a single volume."
"But there's also something much more modest and humble about this piece, which makes its survival all the most extraordinary," he said, noting that the hymnals were utilitarian books that were subjected to a lot of wear and tear.
The last time a copy came on the auction block in 1947, it sold for a record auction price of $151,000. At the time, it surpassed auction prices for the Gutenberg Bible, Shakespeare's First Folio and John James Audubon's "Birds of America."
The book is on view at Sotheby's through Sunday. It will travel to several cities, including Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas.
Firmicus Maternus
Christian author of the fourth century; wrote a work "De errore profanarum religionum". Nothing is known about him except what can be gleaned from this work, which is found in only one manuscript (Codex Vaticano-Palatinus, Saec. X). Some references to the Persian Wars, and the fact that the work was addressed to the two emperors, Constantius II and Constans I, have led to the conclusion that it was composed during their joint reign (337-350). The work is valuable because it gives a picture of the character which the paganism of the later Roman Empire had taken, under the stress of the new spiritual needs aroused by contact with the religions of Egypt and the East. It aims, if one may judge from the mutilated introduction, at presenting from a philosophical and historical standpoint, reasons showing the superiority of Christianity over the superstitions and licentiousness of heathenism. In a general survey of pagan creeds and beliefs the author holds up to scorn the origin and practices of the Gentile cults. All its parts are not of equal merit or importance, from the purely historical standpoint. The first portion, in which the religions of Greece and the East are described, is merely a compilation from earlier sources, but in the latter section of the work, in which the mysteries of Eleusis, Isis, and especially Mithra are set forth in detail, with their system of curious passwords, formulae, and ceremonies, the author seems to speak from personal experience, and thus reveals many interesting facts which are not found elsewhere. The emperors are exhorted to stamp out this network of superstition and immorality, as a sacred duty for which they will receive a reward from God Himself, and ultimately the praise and thanks of those whom they rescue from error and corruption. The theory that the author of the Christian work was identical with Julius Firmicus Maternus Siculus, who wrote a work on astrology (De Nativitatibus sive Matheseos), assigned by Mommsen to the year 337 ["Hermes", XXIX (1894), 468 sq.], is favourably received by some, as well because of the identity of names and dates, as because of similarities in style which they are satisfied the two documents exhibit. This theory of course supposes that the author wrote one work before, the other after, his conversion. Critical edition by Halm (Vienna, 1867) in "Corpus Scrip. Eccles. Lat.", II.
Firmicus Maternus
Christian author of the fourth century; wrote a work "De errore profanarum religionum". Nothing is known about him except what can be gleaned from this work, which is found in only one
manuscript (Codex Vaticano-Palatinus, Saec. X). Some references to the Persian Wars, and the fact that the work was addressed to the two emperors, Constantius II and Constans I, have led to the conclusion that it was composed during their joint reign (337-350). The work is valuable because it gives a picture of the character which the
paganism of the later Roman Empire had taken, under the stress of the new spiritual needs aroused by contact with the
religions of
Egypt and the East. It aims, if one may judge from the mutilated introduction, at presenting from a
philosophical and historical standpoint, reasons showing the superiority of
Christianity over the
superstitions and licentiousness of
heathenism. In a general survey of
pagan creeds and
beliefs the author holds up to scorn the origin and practices of the
Gentile cults. All its parts are not of equal merit or importance, from the purely historical standpoint. The first portion, in which the
religions of Greece and the East are described, is merely a compilation from earlier sources, but in the latter section of the work, in which the mysteries of Eleusis, Isis, and especially
Mithra are set forth in detail, with their system of curious passwords, formulae, and ceremonies, the author seems to speak from personal experience, and thus reveals many interesting facts which are not found elsewhere. The emperors are exhorted to stamp out this network of
superstition and immorality, as a sacred
duty for which they will receive a reward from
God Himself, and ultimately the praise and thanks of those whom they rescue from
error and corruption. The theory that the author of the
Christian work was identical with Julius Firmicus Maternus Siculus, who wrote a work on
astrology (De Nativitatibus sive Matheseos), assigned by Mommsen to the year 337 ["Hermes", XXIX (1894), 468 sq.], is favourably received by some, as well because of the identity of names and dates, as because of similarities in style which they are satisfied the two documents exhibit. This theory of course supposes that the author wrote one work before, the other after, his
conversion. Critical edition by Halm (Vienna, 1867) in "Corpus Scrip. Eccles. Lat.", II.
