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APPENDIX A Letter of St. Augustine concernmg The City of God IIMONG the half-dozen or so letters of St. Augustine ~ which have been discovered since the appearance of the collection of 270 formed by the Maurists (Paris 1689), the most recently published deserves attention here as dealing primarily with The City of God. It was edited in 1939 by Dom Cyrille Lambot, O.S.B. (Maredsous), from two manuscripts.! In that of Reims, the older of the two (12th13th cent.), the letter is described as a 'preface' to The City of God and is placed directly before it. In the authoritative judgment of Dom Lambot there is nothing in either the language or style of the letter to raise doubt as to its genuineness. The Firmus to whom the letter is addressed is to be identified with an African priest of that name. This Firmus was one of the intimates of St. Augustine and was often the bearer of the bishop's letters to various correspondents, among them St. Jerome. In one instance he was to be charged with delivering a copy of the first thirteen books of The City of God, the work being then unfinished. The present letter announces to Firmus, who is at Carthage, the dispatch to him of the full twenty-two books of the completed work and advises him how to divide it into two or five parts if it should be found too 1 C. Lambot. 'Lettre inedite de S. Augustin relative au De civitate Dei,' Revue Benedictine 51 (1939) 109·121. In a private communication Dom Lambot writes that he has found the letter in a third manuscript : Paris, Bib!. Nat. 2056, of the 12th century (apparently older than the manuscript of Reims) . 397 398 SAINT AUGUSTINE bulky as a single volume. Firmus is asked to let the manuscript he is to receive be transcribed by any at Carthage who may not yet own a copy and to use it both for the instruction of the faithful and for any help it may give in releasing pagans from their superstitions. A striking feature of the text Augustine sent to Firmus was that it had been read through in person by its author befor~ dispatch.2 We should bear in mind that the first three books of The City of God had been finished twelve years before the last eight. In reading the early books after completing the last, it is not likely that the author would have failed to correct a phrase here and there or add an occasional explanation .3 If in fact AUKustine retouched the work as he read, the text of The City of God sent to Firmus was in effect a new edition revised by the author. Modern editors of the work, confronting manuscripts which sometimes, for one and the same passage, furnish two divergent but quite acceptable readings , have been led to conjecture that in such cases both readings may have come from the pen of St. Augustine. Their finding gains support from the new letter, since this supplies a reasonable explanation of how such authentic doublets may have arisen. The subjoined translation of the letter is based on Dom Lambot's edition. In a few cases his discussion of the letter provides interpretation of passages of doubtful meaning. These interpretations have been adopted here. B.M. P. 2 A single word in the first sentence of the letter is the only evidence for this fact. Both manuscripts show it as 'relictos' ('abandoned'). Lambot corrects to 'relectos' ('reread'). A further ambiguity present in .this opening sentence is discussed by Lambot 115 n. 4. 3 As Lambot shows (116 n. 2), corrections made by St. Augustine in his On the Trinity offer an interesting parallel to the present case; d. Aug., Epist. 174 (tr. J. H. Baxter, St. Augustine: Select Letters [Loeb Classical Library 1930] 303ff.). APPENDIX 399 To FIRMUS,4 My DISTINGUISHED AND DESERVEDLY HONORED LORD, AND My CHERISHED SON, AUGUSTINE SENDS GREETING IN THE LORD The books on the City of God which you most eagerly requested I have sent you as I promised, having also reread them myself. That this, with God's help, should be done has been urged by my son and your brother, Cyrpian,5 who has furnished just that insistence I hoped would be forthcoming. There are twenty-two sections.6 To put all these into one whole would be cumbersome. If you wish that two volumes be made of them...

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