First edition, of considerable scarcity, of Bèze's influential Psalm translation, divided in five books. For each of the 150 Psalms, the argumentum, set in small type, is given first, then the interpretation and the paraphrase, in two columns, and finally then the lyric verses, generally preceded by indications of scansion. We have not been able to find any other copies of the present edition in sales records of the past hundred years.
Theodore de Bèze (1519-1605) was a French Protestant theologian, and the disciple and later successor of Jean Calvin. He published his first collection of Latin poetry in 1548, and became known as one of the best Latin poets of his time. In 1551, Calvin asked him to complete the French metrical translations of the Psalms which the poet Clément Marot (1496-1544) had started before his death. Bèze added 40 more translations, which were published in 1551 as Pseames de David. After, he began working on a metrical translation of the Psalm in Latin, which was first published in 1579. Two editions of the work appeared in that year, but the present is the most complete, as the other does not include the paraphrases or lyrical poems. Both editions are printed anonymously. However, since the preliminaries for both are nearly identical, they may have been printed by the same printer. The literature mentions either Eustache Vignon (1530-1588), who also printed several of Calvin's works, or the scholar-printer Henry II Estienne (1528-1598).
With the bookbinder's label of the Period Bookbinders in Bath on the recto of the last flyleaf. The leaves are browned, occasional annotations in the margins. Otherwise in good condition. Adams B 1466; Delaveau-Hillard, Bibles Paris, 3994; Gilmont, GLN-2723; Machiels B 506; USTC 450790; not in BM STC French.