"ONE OF THE FEW BOOKS THAT HAVE PROFOUNDLY AFFECTED THE COURSE OF HISTORY": 1634 EDITION OF CALVIN'S INSTITUTION OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION, THE "MOST IMPORTANT DOCTRINAL WORK OF THE REFORMATION"

CALVIN, John. The Institution of Christian Religion, Written in Latine by M. John Calvin, Translated Into English according to the Authours last Edition… By Thomas Norton. London: Anne Griffin, for Joyce Norton, and R. Whitaker, 1634. Folio (7-1/2 by 11 inches), 19th-century full olive calf, raised bands, black morocco spine label, elaborately gilt-decorated spine and boards, marbled endpapers and edges. $7500.

1634 edition of Calvin's magnum opus—"a comprehensive theological system rivaling those of the Middle Ages, particularly Thomas Aquinas"—of paramount importance in ultimately supporting a global "movement for liberty and independence" (PMM).

This seminal work "is considered by many to be one of the finest systematic theologies ever written… John T. McNeill argued that Calvin's Institutes is 'one of the few books that have profoundly affected the course of history'" (Haykin, To the Ends of the Earth, 29). His first theological publication, it initially appeared in Latin in a draft of six chapters in 1536. Calvin constantly revised and expanded it until 1559 with publication of the final revised edition of 80 chapters. Institutes "provided a comprehensive theological system rivaling those of the Middle Ages, particularly Thomas Aquinas'… Calvinism is the `Reformed' as distinct from the `Lutheran' Church… Its cardinal point was the absolute rule of God in the natural and spiritual world… by whose grace only is man relieved of the consequence of sin… [Its] most important role, despite Calvin's authoritarian influence, was to support the movement for liberty and independence in many parts of the world. Outside Switzerland its most potent influence was exercised in Holland and Britain. Puritanism and the ruling theology of the late 16th and early 17th century in England was Calvinistic; the Scottish Reformation was Calvinistic throughout. Through these countries Calvinism exerted considerable influence on the recognition of the liberal rights of the individual as eventually expressed in the Constitution of the United States of America" (PMM 65; emphasis added). "Norton's gifts were such that Calvin was fortunate in his English translator" (McNeill, ed. Calvin, xliii). "Latin editions prior to that of 1559 had been circulated in England and Scotland, but only the chapters on the Christian life (Book III, chapters vi-x, in the final order of the work) had been put into English." First published in English in 1561 after the 1559 Geneva edition. With extensive series of Tables at rear. Woodcut-engraved title page; with ornamental initials, head- and tail-pieces throughout. Occasional mispagination as issued without loss of text. ESTC S107163. STC 4425. Bookplate.

Text with occasional marginal wormholing, not affecting text, marginal faint dampstain to last few leaves of Tables, one small burn mark affecting a few letters on FF2. Beautifully bound.