[AUTOGRAPH]. MELANCHTHON, Philipp.
[Autograph letter, signed, from Philipp Melanchthon to Sebastian Boetius].
[Wittenberg], Easter [14 April 1555]. Folio (19.5 x 32 cm). In Latin. [2] pp.
€ 45,000
Autograph letter in Latin, signed by Melanchthon to the Protestant theologian Sebastian Boetius in Halle, to recommend the young priest Christian Hertwig junior. Boetius (1515-1573), who had studied under Luther and Melanchthon at Wittenberg, succeeded Justus Jonas as superintendent of Halle and founded the famous Marienbibliothek, still in existence. In his letter, Melanchthon reminds his former student that their minds often run in the same channel, as their letters show, and describes the role of the ideal pastor. He recommends Hertwig for such a position, both on the strength of his doctrines and on that of his moral fibre.
Slightly browned; traces of folds. In fine condition. Koehler, Epistolae quaedam Phil. Melanthonis (1802), 37 note x; Melanchthons Briefwechsel (ed. H. Scheible), vol. VII, p. 295, no. 7449; De Wette/Seidemann, Dr. Martin Luthers Briefe VI (1856), 646.
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