Historische Abhandlung von einigen Gottesgelehrten, welche vorher Rechtsgelehrte gewessen sind.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Author/Creator:

Ehrhardt, Siegismund Justus.

Contributor:

Creidenmann, Friedrich Wilhelm, dedicatee.

Language:

German

Greek, Ancient (to 1453)

Hebrew

Latin

Subjects (All):

Theologians--Biography.

Genre:

codices (bound manuscripts)

biographies (literary genre)

treatises

Manuscripts, German.

Manuscripts, European.

Biographies.

Penn Provenance:

Formerly owned by the prince of Liechtenstein (bookplate, with coat of arms, pasted inside upper cover: Ex libris Liechtensteinianis).

Sold by H. P. Kraus (New York), 1963.

Physical Description:

154 leaves : paper ; 20-23 x 165-170 (180 x 130) mm bound to 209 x 176 mm

Production:

[Königsberg in Bayern], 1754.

Language Note:

German, with an epigraph in Latin (from a poem, De obitu Celsi, by Saint Paulinus of Nola; p. 2) and Latin titles of works, and quotations, scattered throughout; at least one quotation in Hebrew (p. 22) and one in Greek (p. 107).

Biography/History:

A Protestant church historian, Erhardt (1733-1793) is best known for his Presbyterologie des Evangelischen Schlesiens, a history of the Protestant church of Silesia (published 1780-1790). Born and raised in Schwäbisch Gmünd, he studied theology in Erlangen, Jena and Halle, and was then appointed as pastor in the Franconian town of Markpurg-Greppach in 1754. The present work was apparently written before completion of his studies; on the title page he calls himself a candidate for pastoral office and a member of the Latin Society of Jena (des ehrw. Predigtamts Candidat und der Hertzogl. Lateinischen Gesellschaft zu Jena ordentliches Mitglied; p. 1).

Summary:

Treatise in the author's hand, about scholars of theology (Gottesgelehrte) who were previously scholars of law (Rechtsgelehrte), dedicated to his friend Friedrich Wilhelm Creidenmann, of Vienna, whom he characterizes as a student of worldly wisdom and law (der Weltweissheit und Rechten rühmlich beflissenem; dedication on title page, p. 1). The work was written on the occasion of Creidenmann's departure from Königsberg in Bayern (Königsberg in Franken) in 1754, in order to complete his studies in Jena (p. 1). It is divided into 39 sections or paragraphs. A table of contents (pp. 3-4) lists an introduction (paragraphs 1-4); 32 rubrics naming figures discussed, with corresponding paragraph number (without page numbers); a 33rd rubric for a section (paragraph 38) that discusses some additional figures; and an unnumbered rubric referring to a concluding section or afterword (paragraph 39), which he says will clarify the purpose of the work. The figures discussed include Tertullian, Prudentius, Arator, Pope Gregory I, Photius, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, Johann Oecolampadius, and Martin Antoine Del Rio. The work is replete with scholarly citations and footnotes. The afterword (pp. 145-152) is personally addressed to Creidenmann. Ehrhardt offers the pages as a memento of the eternal friendship and love that binds them (p. 152). The manuscript contains corrections in a darker ink, apparently contemporary and in Ehrhardt's own hand; in the afterword he expresses confidence that his friend will forgive the mistakes contained in the text (p. 152).

Notes:

Ms. codex.

Title from title page (p. 1).

Pagination: Paper, i (newer paper) + 76 + i (newer paper); 1-152; contemporary pagination in ink, upper outer corners. Catchwords on both recto and verso of leaves.

Layout: Written in 32-42 long lines, with footnotes on lower portion of most pages, below a dividing line; and title of work in a running heading spanning facing pages, with paragraph numbers given on recto pages.

Script: Written in a German cursive script.

Binding: Modern boards, with gilt lettering and bands on spine.

Origin: Written in Königsberg in Bayern, in Bavaria, Germany, on 7 March 1754 (p. 152).

Cited in:

Described in Zacour, Norman P. and Hirsch, Rudolf. Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Libraries of the University of Pennsylvania to 1800 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1965), p. 92 (Ms. German 60).

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Codex 1159

OCLC:

225022408