1594 – Ecclesiastical Annals, Cesare Baronio | Early Church History & Papacy

Cesare Baronio of Sora was a 16th-century Italian cardinal and historian of the Catholic Church. Baronio had extensive conversations with Galileo on the heavens and was quoted as saying that “the Bible teaches us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go” in direct opposition to the famed astronomer.

Baronio wrote numerous theological works, but none more important than Ecclesiastical Annales. In this work, Baronio provides a history of the first 12 centuries of the church with a heavy influence from the papacy. Even still, with direction from the Vatican, Baronio’s Annales is considered to be the “greatest history of the Church ever written!”

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Annalivm ecclesiasticorvm = der Kirchen Histori Caesaris Baronii sorani : erster thail : darin auss den vralten bewertisten Lehrern vnnd h. Vättern gründlich beschriben wirdt
• Author(s): Cesare Baronio
• Publisher: Ingolstadt: Getruckt durch David Sartorium
• Edition: First German edition, 1594.
• Binding: Full leather
• Format: Folio, single volume
• Size:  13 in x 9 in (33 cm x 23 cm)
• Collation: [2], 1003, [39] p
• Illustrations: Woodcut title page
• Contents Include:
  • Chronological history of the early Church (first 12 centuries)
  • Biographical notes on early Fathers
• Reference(s): USTC 611636

Condition:

Good. Full leather binding, rubbed and worn with moderate surface wear. Text block remains secure. Pages show mild staining and toning consistent with age.

Why Collect This?

• Landmark early printing of Baronio’s Annales in German translation
• Highly influential in shaping Catholic historical writing
• Massive, 16^th-century German folio

Item Number: #29656