LIBATIO AFRICANAE (DE) historiae ecclesiasticae, sive Optati Milevitani libri VII ad Parmenianum de Schimaste Donatistarum. Victoris Uticensis libri III de Persecutione Vandalica in Africa. Cum annotationibus ex Fr. Balduini Commentariis rerum Ecclesiasticarum.

Parisiis, apud Claudium Fremy, 1569. 8vo. 12 unnumbered leaves. 170 numbered leaves. 2 leaves. 55 numbered leaves. Brown calf, one fleuron in the center of plates, four on the corners (contemporary binding, some marks of ancient restoration). First Collected Edition of this very rare collection of two important pieces on the history of Africa and of early Catholic evangelization of this continent. First published in 1549, Saint Optat's "De Schismate Donatistarum", in which the Donatist schism was denounced for the first time, had a considerable impact in Africa. The text is regarded a forerunner of Saint Augustine, who drew his inspiration from Saint-Optat in many occasions. The second text is a history of the African Church since the Vandals' conquest, written by Bishop Victor de Vite, who was forced to leave his seat because of the persecution he suffered. Its first publication dates back to 1537. This edition is to be credited to the famous historian François Baudouin (1520-1573), who enriched it with his own comments. We know of another issue (no priority established), published the same year but in a different place. Good copy that once belonged to the famous Americanist Brasseur de Bourbourg, with his signature autograph on one one of the endpapers and an autograph sheet of bibliographic notes glued onto the bottom cover endpaper. 2 copies listed in NUC (1 of this issue). Laffont-Bompiani, I, 540-541. Unrecorded by Brunet.