BOK, Editio princeps of Buchanan’s “Psalmorum paraphrasis”, c. 1565.

George Buchanan:

Psalmorum Davjdis paraphrasis poetica, nunc primum edita. [...] Eiusdem Davjdis Psalmi aliquot a Th. B. V. [=Th. Beza Vezelius] versi.

[Geneva], apud Henricus & eius fratrem Robertum Stephanum, [c. 1565, according to Adams 1446]. 8vo. 18,7 x 11 cm. [8] + 280 + [48] pp. Woodcut Estienne device with motto “Noli altum sapere” on title page. Dedicated to Mary Queen of Scots.

Later half vellum, blue marbled paper-covered boards and marbled endpapers. Bookplate: Ex Libris Caroli Watson. Second blank neatly repaired at head with manuscript note “Editio princeps. Edition vraisemblablement anterieure a l’an 1566” on verso.

Contents: pages [3]-[8], Buchanan's verse dedication to Mary Queen of Scots, and celebratory verses by other authors in Latin & and Greek; pages 1-266, Buchanan's “paraphrasis” of the Psalms; pages 267-277, versions in Latin verse of some Psalms by Beza; pages [1]-45, Greek verse versions of some Psalms, by various authors; page 46 headed “Henricus Stephanus Musarum Graecarum studiosis S. D.” in Latin.

George Buchanan (1506-1582), Scottish Humanist, educator, and man of letters, an eloquent critic of corruption and inefficiency in church and state during the period of the Reformation in Scotland. He was also known throughout Europe as a scholar and a Latin poet. Because of Buchanan’s two bitter attacks on the Franciscans - Somnium (1535) and Franciscanus et fratres (1527) - he was jailed as a heretic. He escaped and accepted a position as teacher at the Collège de Guyenne in Bordeaux, where Montaigne was one of his pupils. While in captivity in Portugal he composed this paraphrase of the Psalms that was long used to instruct Scottish youth in Latin.

After serving as a tutor in France he returned to Scotland in 1561. At first a supporter of Mary, Queen of Scots, he became her bitter enemy after the murder of her second husband, Lord Darnley, in 1567. He helped to prepare the case against Mary that was presented to Elizabeth I and that resulted eventually in Mary’s execution.

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