Christianismi Restitutio, Totius ecclesiae apostolicae est ad sua limina vocatio, in integrum restituta cognitione Dei, fidei Christi, iustificationis nostrae, regenerationis baptismi, et caenae domini manducationis.

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Creator

Michael Servetus.

Title

Christianismi Restitutio, Totius ecclesiae apostolicae est ad sua limina vocatio, in integrum restituta cognitione Dei, fidei Christi, iustificationis nostrae, regenerationis baptismi, et caenae domini manducationis.

Publisher

[Vienne, France: N.p.],

Date

1553, [i.e., Nuremberg: Christoph Gottlieb von Murr, 1790].

Description

This is the rare reprint of the book that cost Michael Servetus his life. Only three copies of the 1553 original are extant, the rest having been burned along with Servetus shortly after publication. A reprint edition was burned in London in 1723. Murr was successfully able to reprint the book in a small edition in 1790, now itself rare.

Writing the Restitution of Christianity resulted in Servetus being labeled heretical by both the papacy and leaders of the Reformation in Geneva, in particular John Calvin. The nature of Servetus’s trial, sentencing and death has been the subject of religious tolerance debate for nearly 500 years; Locke, Voltaire and Jefferson have commented on Servetus and his tragic fate.

The story of the subject and author, the risk taken by the editor of this reprint and the scarcity of the present copy all make this book one of the highlights of my collection. I have found collecting the secondary literature on this subject equally fascinating.

Source

Brian J. Morrison