Artis Historicae Penus
Encyclopedia
Artis Historicae Penus ("Treasury of the Art of History", 1579) is a compilation of 18 ars historica
works brought out in 1579 by the late Renaissance
Basel
printer Pietro Perna
. This compendium in octavo
appeared in 2 volumes with a copious index. A third volume adds the final work by Antonio Riccoboni, often missing in library collections as a separate edition. Three years earlier, in 1576, Perna brought out a single volume in the same format that ran to 1140 pages and featured the central work of Jean Bodin in its title, along with twelve other authors. Perna writes a letter to the lover of histories (Historiarum amatori Typographus). Editor Johann Wolf dedicates the second collection to Frederick I of Wurttemberg
. He states that he has included all the princely dedications and prefaces of the single works from the source editions for the sake of completeness.
In addition to the two standard Greek texts of the ars historica
translated into Latin, the authors, editors and translators are an international list of the most notable humanist writers on history of the period. There are several Catholics, but those closest to the Perna press were Protestants. Among them are six Italians, four Germans, three Frenchmen, a Spaniard and a Hungarian. As humanist
members of the Renaissance res publica litterarum all wrote in Latin, though Stupano translated Patrizi's Dieci Dialoghi for Perna. The dates of the editions used by Perna follow the authors' names.
The ars historica
and its classical exempla were important pedagogical tools for the education of princes, treasured for the lessons in statecraft found in histories. They also served as an antidote to the influence of Niccolò Machiavelli
.
The Counter Reformation polyhistor Antonio Possevino
fathered a Jesuit ars historica
to replace the influence of Bodin and the heterodox authors of the Perna collection in his Bibliotheca selecta
1593 and expanded it to an Apparatus ad omnium gentium historiam
1597.
Ars historica
Ars Historica was a genre of humanist historiography in the later Renaissance. It produced a small library of treatises underscoring the stylistic aspects of writing history as a work of art, but also introducing the contributions of philology and textual criticism in its precepts and...
works brought out in 1579 by the late Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
printer Pietro Perna
Pietro Perna
Pietro Perna was an Italian printer, the leading printer of Late Renaissance Basel, the Erasmian crossroads between Italian Renaissance humanism and the Protestant Reformation. His books promoted the Italian heretical thinkers at the origins of Socinianism and the theory of Tolerance...
. This compendium in octavo
Octavo
Octavo to is a technical term describing the format of a book.Octavo may also refer to:* Octavo is a grimoire in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett...
appeared in 2 volumes with a copious index. A third volume adds the final work by Antonio Riccoboni, often missing in library collections as a separate edition. Three years earlier, in 1576, Perna brought out a single volume in the same format that ran to 1140 pages and featured the central work of Jean Bodin in its title, along with twelve other authors. Perna writes a letter to the lover of histories (Historiarum amatori Typographus). Editor Johann Wolf dedicates the second collection to Frederick I of Wurttemberg
Frederick I of Württemberg
Frederick I William Charles of Württemberg was the first King of Württemberg. He was known for his size: at and about , he was in contrast to Napoleon, who recognized him as King of Württemberg.-Biography:...
. He states that he has included all the princely dedications and prefaces of the single works from the source editions for the sake of completeness.
In addition to the two standard Greek texts of the ars historica
Ars historica
Ars Historica was a genre of humanist historiography in the later Renaissance. It produced a small library of treatises underscoring the stylistic aspects of writing history as a work of art, but also introducing the contributions of philology and textual criticism in its precepts and...
translated into Latin, the authors, editors and translators are an international list of the most notable humanist writers on history of the period. There are several Catholics, but those closest to the Perna press were Protestants. Among them are six Italians, four Germans, three Frenchmen, a Spaniard and a Hungarian. As humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
members of the Renaissance res publica litterarum all wrote in Latin, though Stupano translated Patrizi's Dieci Dialoghi for Perna. The dates of the editions used by Perna follow the authors' names.
- I. Jean BodinJean BodinJean Bodin was a French jurist and political philosopher, member of the Parlement of Paris and professor of law in Toulouse. He is best known for his theory of sovereignty; he was also an influential writer on demonology....
1572, - II. Francesco PatriziFrancesco PatriziFranciscus Patricius was a philosopher and scientist from the Republic of Venice. He was known as a defender of Platonism and an opponent of Aristotelianism...
(trans.J.N.Stupano) 1570, - III. Giovanni Pontano 1556,
- IV. Francois BaudouinFrançois BaudouinFrançois Baudouin , also called Balduinus, was a French jurist, Christian controversialist and historian. Among the most colourful of the noted French humanists, he was respected by his contemporaries as a statesman and jurist, even as they frowned upon on his perceived inconstancy in matters of...
1561, - V. Sebastian Fox MorcilloSebastian Fox MorcilloSebastian Fox Morcillo , a Spanish scholar and philosopher, was born in Seville between 1526 and 1528. Around 1548 he studied in Leuven. Following the example of the Spanish Jew Judas Abarbanel, he published commentaries on Plato and Aristotle, in which he endeavoured to reconcile their teachings...
1557, - VI. Giovanni Viperano 1567,
- VII. Francis RobortelloFrancis RobortelloFrancesco Robortello was a Renaissance humanist, nicknamed Canis grammaticus for his confrontational and demanding manner.-As scholar:...
1560, - VIII. Dionysius of HalicarnassusDionysius of HalicarnassusDionysius of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus. His literary style was Attistic — imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime.-Life:...
(trans.Andreas Dudith) 1560, - IX. Christopher Milieu 1551,
- X. Uberto Foglietta 1574,
- XI. David ChytraeusDavid ChytraeusDavid Chytraeus or Chyträus was a German Lutheran theologian and historian.His real surname was Kochhafe, which in Classical Greek is χυτρα, from where he derived the Latinized pseudonym "Chyträus".Chytraeus was professor of the University of Rostock and one of the co-authors of the Formula of...
1569, - XII. Lucian of Samosata (trans. Jacob MicyllusJacob MicyllusJacob Micyllus, was a German Renaissance humanist and teacher, who conducted the city's Latin school in Frankfurt and held a chair at the University of Heidelberg, during times of great cultural stress in Germany....
) 1538, - XIII. Simon GrynaeusSimon GrynaeusSimon Grynaeus , German scholar and theologian of the Reformation, son of Jacob Gryner, a Swabian peasant, was born at Veringendorf, in Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.He adopted the name Grynaeus from the epithet of Apollo in Virgil...
1539, - XIV. Celio Secondo CurioneCelio Secondo CurioneCelio Secondo Curione was an Italian humanist, grammarian and suspected antitrinitarian.thumb|160px|Celio Secondo Curione-Works :* Pasquillus ecstaticus et Marphorius. Basel, 1544....
1554, - XV. Christopher Pezel 1568,
- XVI. Theodor ZwingerTheodor ZwingerTheodor Zwinger the Elder was a Swiss physician and humanist scholar. He made significant contributions to the emerging genres of reference and travel literature...
1571, - XVII. Johannes Sambucus 1568,
- XVIII. Antonio Riccoboni 1568.
The ars historica
Ars historica
Ars Historica was a genre of humanist historiography in the later Renaissance. It produced a small library of treatises underscoring the stylistic aspects of writing history as a work of art, but also introducing the contributions of philology and textual criticism in its precepts and...
and its classical exempla were important pedagogical tools for the education of princes, treasured for the lessons in statecraft found in histories. They also served as an antidote to the influence of Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an Italian historian, philosopher, humanist, and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance. He is one of the main founders of modern political science. He was a diplomat, political philosopher, playwright, and a civil servant of the Florentine Republic...
.
The Counter Reformation polyhistor Antonio Possevino
Antonio Possevino
Antonio Possevino was a Jesuit protagonist of Counter Reformation as a papal diplomat and a Jesuit controversialist, encyclopedist and bibliographer...
fathered a Jesuit ars historica
Ars historica
Ars Historica was a genre of humanist historiography in the later Renaissance. It produced a small library of treatises underscoring the stylistic aspects of writing history as a work of art, but also introducing the contributions of philology and textual criticism in its precepts and...
to replace the influence of Bodin and the heterodox authors of the Perna collection in his Bibliotheca selecta
Bibliotheca selecta
Bibliotheca selecta is a bibliographical encyclopedia by the Jesuit Antonio Possevino, printed in two folio volumes at the Typographia Apostolica Vaticana by Domenico Basa in 1593...
1593 and expanded it to an Apparatus ad omnium gentium historiam
Apparatus ad omnium gentium historiam
Apparatus ad omnium gentium historiam 1597The author of this bibliographical guide is Antonio Possevino, a major fugure in the diplomatic and intellectual life of the Counter Reformation...
1597.