1591 FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH OF PROPOSITIONS AND PRINCIPLES OF DIVINITIE BY BEZA, CALVIN’S SUCCESSOR AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FIGURES IN THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

BEZA, Theodore (or BÉZE, Théodore de) and LA FAYE, Antoine de. Propositions and Principles of Divinitie, propounded and disputed in the vniuersitie of Geneua, by certaine students of diuinitie there, vnder M. Theod. Beza, and M. Anthonie Faius… Translated out of Latine into English, to the end that the causes, both of the present dangers of that Church, and also of the troubles of those that are hardlie dealt vvith els-vvhere, may appeare in the English tongue. Edinburgh: Robert Waldegrave, 1591. Small quarto (6-7/8 by 5-1/2 inches), contemporary full calf rebacked with elaborately gilt-decorated spine laid down, raised bands, newer red morocco spine label; pp. [12], 268 [i.e. 274], (2, table). $12,000.

First edition in English of Beza’s Genevian Theses, “among the first Genevan disputations, held as academic exercises, that survived in print” (Goeing). Translated from Latin into English by John Penry, an important Protestant reformer executed for heresy in England two years after publication, and printed in Scotland by Robert Waldegrave, the King’s Printer, who published noted works of Puritanism and Calvinism.

French theologian and scholar Beza, or Beze (1519-1605), was an important disciple of John Calvin and one of the most prominent figures in the Protestant Reformation. He founded the Geneva Academy with Calvin in 1559 and was chair of theology for 40 years. In 1564 he succeeded Calvin as the spiritual leader of Geneva and the Protestant movement. His Greek editions and Latin translations of the New Testament formed the basis of the English Geneva Bibles (1557 and 1560) and the King James Bible (1611).

In the 1580s, the Geneva Academy introduced publicly defended “theological disputation exercises, or theses, as systematic exercises and evaluations in Theology.” Beza and La Faye selected, edited, and published them in Latin in 1586 as Theses Theologicae in Schola Genevensi. They “arranged the book in a topical order, starting with explanations of God and ending with the rituals of the church. The topical order follows the catechisms of the Reformed Church. La Faye argued in the preface that they wanted to render the volume ‘a methodical summary of divinity.’ With this format, they made it like a textbook or lecture-book. While recognizing the importance of the students’ contribution, La Faye enhanced the importance of the book by pointing to his venerated colleague Theodore Beza as being heavily involved in the volume, which presented an abbreviated version of the doctrine of the Reformed Church. Sixteenth-century scholars often used the terms theses, disputations and propositions, interchangeably” (Goeing).

“The importance of these Genevan theses helps explain why they were published in Scotland. Triggered by the name of Beza, the theses of 1586 were translated from Latin to English, and printed in 1591 by Robert Waldegrave in Edinburgh…. Since the 19th century the translation into English has been attributed to the Welshman John Penry, who moved with the Protestant press of Robert Waldegrave to the court of James VI (later James I of Britain) in Edinburgh to avoid persecution in England. James was an old acquaintance of Beza. In 1581 he had already sent Beza portraits of Scottish Protestant Reformers… John Penry was an important reformer… He was eventually executed in England in 1593 for heresy…. In his preface… Penry makes it clear why he considered the text so important: It was from Beza and contained ‘the whole consent [consensus] of the Godly learned in the Church of Geneva and especially by that learned man universally reverenced in Gods Church M. Theodore Beza.’ He identifies it both as a work of collective scholarship and as the special wisdom of Beza…It is difficult to know the precise impact of this translation… [Its readership was possibly] drawn from members of the court of James and the associated new academy in Edinburgh… And, although there were many links between Geneva and the Reformed Church in Scotland… it does not appear that publishing theses on the Genevan model ever became a general practice in Scotland.” (Goeing, “The Genevian Academy,” pp. 297-8 of Balserak’s Companion to the Reformation in Geneva). We have not found records of any copies of this edition sold at auction in over fifty years, but copies are held by some major institutions in the UK and US. ESTC S101754. STC (2nd ed.) 2053. Early owner signature on title page, deaccession stamps on first and last leaves of text; early ink annotations throughout.

Inner hinges repaired, marginal repairs to title page inner edge, repairs to final leaf, with loss of a few words, corner tear with loss to leaf Z2, affecting a few letters. Light dampstaining. Overall a very good copy.