BOSSUET, Jacques Bénigne Histoire des variations des églises protestantes.

First edition of the significant work by Bossuet in his fight against Protestantism.

Tchemerzine I, 859; Brunet I, 1135.

This work is at the top of the great controversy opposing Bossuet to the Protestants. For the first time, Bossuet means to deal with the disagreement from the historic point of view.

He offers to demonstrate that if the Protestant church changed her mind on fundamental points, she cannot be trusted as the true church. His task will be to prove through the study of history that Protestant churches changed in their faith and on essential matters. Bossuet was driven by a great documentation concern, that’s the reason why he’ll gather for more than 4 years all the historical documents from which he’ll keep a scientific attitude.

Bossuet delivers incisive portraits of the great reformers such as Luther, Zwingle, Calvin, Melanchton and Cromwell.

This work written on a moderate tone, had a huge success and led to two immediate answers: « L’Histoire de la Réforme » by Basnage and Burnet and the « Lettres pastorales…» by the minister Jurieu that provoked themselves replies by Bossuet: « Défense de l’histoire des variations » in 1691 and the « Six avertissements aux protestants » published from 1689 to 1691.

A superb copy enriched with the magnificent full-page portrait of Bossuet painted by Rigault and engraved by Edelinck, bound in contemporary Parisian morocco with the arms and cipher of the prosecutor Achille de Harlay (1639-1712), third prosecutor of the greatest dynasty of Parisian judges from the 16^th to the 18^th century.

His monogram ADHCDB (Achille de Harlay, comte de Beaumont, OHR 744) has been gilt on each of the two titles.

A precious copy corrected at the time and including about twenty handwritten corrections in ink made by Harlay himself or by one of the Jesuits of the college, of which ex-libris is written at the top of each title. (A.D.H.C.D.B. Achille de Harlay, comte de Beaumont, OHR 744).