The history of the lives, acts, and martyrdom of those bishops, fathers, and doctors of the primitive church

William Smith ‘The history of the lives, acts, and martyrdom of those bishops, fathers, and doctors of the primitive church’ (London, 1721). The text includes a series of woodcuts illustrating the lives of the early Christian martyrs. Includes illustrations of Saint Stephen (acknowledged as the first Christian martyr who was stoned to death), Saint Ignatius of Antioch (devoured by lions in the Colosseum), Saint Polycarp (a disciple of the Apostle John who was burned at the stake), Saint Dionysiu

Details

Level of description: Item
Date: 1721
Reference: 1
Extent and medium: 184 pp; printed
Scope and content: William Smith ‘The history of the lives, acts, and martyrdom of those bishops, fathers, and doctors of the primitive church’ (London, 1721). The text includes a series of woodcuts illustrating the lives of the early Christian martyrs. Includes illustrations of Saint Stephen (acknowledged as the first Christian martyr who was stoned to death), Saint Ignatius of Antioch (devoured by lions in the Colosseum), Saint Polycarp (a disciple of the Apostle John who was burned at the stake), Saint Dionysius the Areopagite (the woodcut likely confuses Dionysius the Areopagite with Saint Dionysius or Denis of Paris. It was the latter who was beheaded by the sword in the third century), and finally, Saint Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon (the precise circumstances of his death are not fully documented, but it is widely believed he died as a martyr in the late 2nd century).
Physical characteristics: The end cover of the volume is partially detached and there is extensive fraying and wear to spine. Careful handling of this volume is required.
General note: There are several manuscript annotations on the inside covers. One of the annotations reads ‘Henry Smith / his book 1724’. Another annotation reads ‘John Herbert Orpen / Lisheen / Bantry / County of Cork / November 29th 1855’. For information on John Herbert Orpen of Lisheen House, Bantry, County Cork, see https://landedestates.ie/property/3765
Repository: Irish Capuchin Archives
Context: Irish Capuchin Archives > Papers of 'The Capuchin Annual' and the Irish Capuchin Publications Office > Papers of Fr. Senan Moynihan OFM Cap. > Rare Book Collection

Annotations

Rights

Rights: Copyright held by the respective institution. Contact the archive for reproduction permissions.

Extracted Mentions

People, places, and terms identified via handwriting recognition and named entity recognition.

People

LONDON(2)
Tracy(1)
Bridge(1)
Smith(1)

Sample passages

London, Printed for H. Tracy, at the Three
Bibles on London Bridge, 1721.
London, Printed for H. Tracy, at the Three

Full Transcript (OCR, 1 pages)

Machine-generated OCR transcript. Handwritten material may contain recognition errors.

Page 1

THE HISTORY 1930 7 2 1 2 0 9 OF THE Lives, Acts, and Martyrdoms OF THE BISHOPS, FATHERS and DOCTORS Of the Primitive CHURCH, APOSTLES With an Account of the Cruel Sufferings and Tortures they Underwent. Adorn'd with above Twenty Curious Cuts. By WILLIAM SMITH, A. M. Author of the History of the HOLY JESUS. London, Printed for H. Tracy, at the Three Bibles on London Bridge, 1721.