ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΟΥ ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥΠΟΛΕΩΣ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ ΣΥΝΤΟΜΟΣ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΜΑΥΡΙΚΙΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑΣ- S.NICEPHORI PATRIARCAE CONSTANTINOPOLITANI BREVIARUM HISTORICUM. PARIS 1616 {together at head} ΠΟΡΦΥΡΙΟΥ ΦΙΛΟΣΟΦΟΥ ΠΕΡΙ ΑΠΟΧΗΣ ΕΜΨΥΧΩΝ PORPHYRII PHILOSOPHI DE NON NECANDIS AD EPULANDUM ANIMATIBUS. LUGDUNI 1620 EDITIO PRINCEPS of the Greek text of a rare Byzantine history written in the 8th century describing the events during the dark ages of Byzantium. In 8vo, contemporary fine vellum with manuscript titles on spine, text clean and bright, complete [70],464p., [12],410p.,217p.[1],Greek text with parallel Latin translations, overall in almost fine condition. While there were earlier Latin-only versions of small fragments mentioned in other works, this was the first printing of the Greek text of Nicephorus History alongside a scholarly Latin translation. The history covers the two dark centuries of Byzantium from the late 6th to the late 8th and it is of the utmost importance for the understanding of the survey of the Byzantine Greeks that time. Dionysius Petavius was a Jesuit powerhouse, and by publishing this "First Edition," he established the Jesuit College of Clermont in Paris as the premier center for Greek studies, rivaling the Protestant centers like Heidelberg. He worked from a high-quality manuscript found in the French Royal Library, it utilized the legendary Greek types (Grecs du Roy). These fonts, designed by Claude Garamond in the 1540s, were still the gold standard in 1616.Since it was the first time the text was published, Petavius included a massive amount of "Notes" at the end to explain the difficult 8th-century Greek and the complex political history of the Iconoclast era. Porphyrios (a Neoplatonist philosopher of the 3rd century) work is a landmark work in the history of Neoplatonism and animal ethics.