Abstract

This volume in the series is dedicated to Erasmus's work on Jerome, whom Erasmus esteemed above all other Church Fathers and used as a model for his own reform program. Erasmus was impressed by "the greatness of the saintly man who of all Christians was by common consent the best scholar and best writer... the supreme champion and expositor and ornament of our faith". Erasmus's work was part of a nine-volume Complete Edition of Jerome published by Johann Froben in Basel in 1516. Erasmus had responsibility for the first four volumes, which contained Jerome's letters and other writings. Erasmus commented on the letters and included as well a dedicatory letter and a Life of Jerome. The present volume contains the latter, Erasmus's various prefaces to the second volume, six of Jerome's letters with Erasmus's annotations, the Amerbachs' prefaces to the fifth volume, notes, and an Index. It is beautifully translated primarily, we are told, by James F. Brady, while John C. Olin prepared the twenty-four-page Introduction and the annotations. This volume replaces all earlier editions in English and sets new standards of accuracy and beauty in both its translation and production.