Folio. [18], 861 [i.e. 860]pp, [4]. Without initial blank leaf. Contemporary panelled calf, tooled in gilt and blind, contrasting red morocco lettering-piece. Rubbed, wear and loss to head of spine and edge of upper board, lettering- piece chipped, bumped corners exposed, later manuscript biographical note to front blank fly-leaf, title page laid-down, text-block dampstained and head of gutter and lower corner, with occasional softening, margin loss to lower corner of leaves Q6 and Dddd5-6, very occasional early manuscript annotations/manicules.

'He was a glorious light in his time, and one of the worthiest Champions that ever the Church had since the Apostles. For though he was but one of the foure Doctors of the Latine Church: yet fought he with foure of the fowlest heretikes, and cut off the heads of foure of the fouwlest monsters that ever opprest the Church, namely the Arrians, the Manichees, the Donatists, and Pelagians. Such a Hercules was this holy Father that he feared not foure together.'

The second English edition, translated by John Healey and revised for this edition by the Anglican clergyman and promotor of the Virginia Colony William Crashaw (bap. 1572, d. 1625/6), of Saint Augustine's history of the world - viewed through the perspective of conflict between the City of Man and the City of God -as guided by divine providence.

A foundation text of Western Christian thought, it was not translated into English until 1610, with commentary taken from the Latin of Valencian scholar and humanist Juan Luis Vives y March (1493-1540) - whose dedication to Henry VIII, which had appeared in the Froben-published first edition (Basel, 1522), is also translated here - Crawshaw's second English edition was dedicated to William, Earl of Pembroke, Thomas, Earl of Arundel, and Philip, Earle of Montgomery.