The Vienna exemplar of the ‘Christianismi Restitutio,’ again, when we
first meet with a notice of it, belonged to Markos Szent Ivanayi, a
Transylvanian gentleman, resident in London in the year 1665. Szent
Ivanayi must, we presume, have held Unitarian principles, and on his
return to his native country (in some districts of which Unitarianism
is the established or prevailing form of religion), he presented his
copy of the ‘Restitutio’ to the Congregation of Claudiopolis, with
which he was in communion; and they, at a later date, by the hands of
their superior, Stephen Agh, gave it, as the most valuable thing they
possessed, to Samuel, Count Teleki de Izek, in acknowledgment of some
act of favour from the magnate. The Count, on his part, informed of
the rarity of the book, and rightly deeming that it was a gift such as
a subject might offer to his sovereign, presented it to the Emperor
Joseph the Second of Austria, by whom it was graciously accepted and
forthwith enshrined in the great Library of Vienna. This copy of the
‘Restitutio’ is in better condition than that of Paris--‘_præstat
nitiore_,’ says Dr. de Murr, from whom we have the foregoing
information (De Murr, Chr. Th., M.D., ‘Adnotationes ad Bibliothecas
Hallerianas, cum variis ad Scripta Michaelis Serveti pertinentibus.’
4to. Erlangen. 1805).
The authorities of Roman Catholic Austria, in 1790, more liberally
disposed than those of Protestant England in the year of grace 1723,
not only gave Dr. de Murr permission to have a transcript made of the
‘Restitutio,’ but raised no objections to his having his copy printed
and published--a task which he happily accomplished in 1791, ‘when
the work appeared anew, like a Phœnix from its ashes,’ as he says.
The reprint is, indeed, an exact counterpart of the original--line
for line, page for page being followed throughout; and as the letter
and paper have also been chosen to correspond as nearly as possible
with those of the prototype, it might have been found difficult
to distinguish between the one and the other, were a third copy
of the original ever to turn up, had not Dr. de Murr put a mark
upon his edition in the date of its publication in extremely small
figures--thus, 1791, at the bottom of the last page. This, too,
is a scarce book, so we presume the edition was small.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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