La littérature syriaque [Anciennes Littératures Chrétiennes, II]
Paris: Librairie Victor Lecoffre, 1900. Second edition. Hardcover. 12mo (7 1/4 x 4 3/4"). xvi, 444pp. Modern green cloth, with white lettering to spine. Original printed wrappers bound in.
To this day, Rubens Duval's History of Syriac Literature remains one of the best - and most readable - introductions to Syriac literature.
Syriac literature is first and foremost an ecclesiastical literature, and most of the works that have come down to us were penned by clergymen and theologians. Its origins are closely tied to the evangelisation of Mesopotamia, which began at Edessa, and would eventually place the city at the center of an intellectual movement that encompassed both religious and scientific study. The Bible was soon translated into Syriac, the language of Edessa, and Syriac then spread as an ecclesiastical literary language. Syriac literature includes poetry and chronicles documenting the dissensions, polemics and religious controversies of the Christian world, as well as compositions on the lives of biblical figures and hagiographical works on the acts of martyrs. (From the Preface of the 2014 edition).
Part I deals with Syriac literature by genre, and Part II provides a chronological overview of Syriac authors.
Ex-library copy, with sticker at upper front joint and tail of spine; bookplate on inside of front cover, printed notice at rear, and stamp at top and bottom paper edges. Text in French. Binding and interior in very good condition. vg. Item #46806
Price: $95.00