QUARTA CENTURIA ECCLESIASTICAE 1562 ('Magdeburg Centuries').

(FLACIUS, MATTHIAS et al.). quarta centuria ecclesiasticae historiae, continens descriptionem amplissimarum rerum in regno Christi, quae quarto post eius nativitatem seculo acciderunt, cum Imperum Romanü gubernarent Constantinus Magnus, eius filij, Iulianus, Iovianus, Valentinianus, Valens, Gratianus, Theodosius maior, & multa praeclara lumina doctorù in ecclesia Christi fulgerent: eodem illustri ordine ac veritate, quo priores centuriae, ex vetustissimis & optimis historicis, patribus, & alijs scriptoribus contexta: Per aliquot studiosos & pios in urbe Magdeburgica. Accessit rerum verborumq. in hac centuria praecipeu memorabilium, tum locorum scripturae explicatorum geminus index. Basel, Johannes Oporinus, 1562.
Folio. 320 x 195 mm. )11,1 blank) pp, columns 13-1574, (83) pp. Index lacks 10 leaves. Black later calf with sparsely gilt spine with raised bands. Some foxing and minor stains. Faint damp in margins, broadening to text the last c. 20 leaves of the index. Worming in margins from col. 234 (leaf L2). Title somewhat soiled, with repairs in edges and crossed-out older signatures and newer (#1857) of Jöns Johan Hagerlöf.

Second edition (first 1560), more published. 4th part of the monumental church history, covering 1300 years, and known as the 'Magdeburg Centuries', published from 1559-74. The text was written by a collective of Magdeburg scholars, known as the Centuriators of Magdeburg, main author/editor was Matthias Flacius (1520-1575). The work was famous for its pioneering critical method, and later church histories were modeled after it.