Poemata sacra, Andreæ Ramsæi Pastoris Edinburgeni

12mo. ff. [3] (blank), pp. [132], ff. [2] (blank). Signatures: ¶⁴ A-H⁸. Contemporary limp vellum, repaired, with gilt badge of Charles I on covers, a Tudor crowned rose. J.P.R. Lyell, whose armorial booklabel and typed description are preserved, suggests that this volume may thus be ‘the author’s dedication copy to Charles I.’ Engraving facing title page, with allegories of Justice and Religion. Title within ornamental border. Includes title vignette, tailpieces, and engraved initials. "Miscellanea & epigrammata sacra" (starting at E6) has special title page. 

Only stand-alone edition. Ramsay’s Latin poems on the Creation, the felicity of mankind ‘ante Lapsum,’ the ‘Lapsus’ itself, and the redemption of Jesus Christ, are among the three modern sources that William Lauder accused Milton of plagiarizing, alongside Jakob Masen’s ‘Sarcotis’ and Hugo Grotius’s Adamus exul. All these texts were most difficult of access to English Miltonists in 1749, and Lauder counted on that to forestall exposure. This work was reprinted in Amsterdam, 1637, in the "Deliciae poetarum Scotorum." See also W. A. Jackson, F. S. Ferguson, & K. F. Pantzer (eds.), Short-title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland, and of English Books Printed Abroad, 1475-1640. 3 vols. London, 1976-1991 (2nd ed.), 20656.

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