Selection of three letters by the Church Father Jerome of Stridon (Saint Jerome, ca. 342/47-420 CE), edited and annotated by Erasmus. Erasmus felt a profound connection to Jerome. He saw in the ancient Church Father not only a kindred spirit but also a mirror for his own intellectual and spiritual journey. Included in this volume are three letters: first the epistle to Heliodorus on the praise of the solitary life (de vita solitaria), a stirring defence of ascetic withdrawal from the world; second the epistle to Heliodorus on the misery of human life (de miseria vitae humanae), a sombre reflection on the fleeting nature of earthly existence; and third the epistle to the monk Rusticus on avoiding familiarity with women (de mulieribus evitandis), a warning shaped by both monastic ideals and Jeromes personal convictions. Additionally, a short fourth letter addressed to Onasus is included at the end of the volume, though it does not appear on the title page. In this letter he satirically addresses the priest Onasus, who had a deformed nose, and his feeling of being unjustly attacked and being made a fool of in other letters and writings by Jerome.
With early manuscript annotations (corrections etc. of the printed text) in the margins and occasional underlining of the text, mainly concerning the third letter, written in three different hands, in both brown and black ink. With a 0.5 cm worm hole in the gutter margin, not affecting the text. Occasional foxing and browning, and some water staining in the fore-edge margin of several leaves. Overall a good copy. BM STC German p. 440; USTC 640603 (3 copies); Vander Haeghen II, 29; VD 16 ZV 7938; not in Adams; De Reuck.