DURDEVIC, Ignjat (Ignazio Giorgio) – D. Paulus Apostolus in mari, quod nunc venetus sinus dicitur naufragus, et Melitae Dalmatensis insulae post naufragium hospes. Venice, Christopher Zane, 1730. Large 8vo [232 x 170 mm] (52), CCCXII pp. With engraved frontispiz, 1 text engraving, 5 folded engraved maps and 1 folded engraved plate. Contemporary vellum.

FIRST EDITION. Very rare and curious work. Ignjat Ðurdevic (1675-1737) was Croatian Baroque writer from the city of Dubrovnik. In the present book he tries to prove that St. Paul has stranded on his last trip not on Malta, but on the Croatian island of Mljet. For a long time, scholars have sought to identify the island called „Melite“ (Acts 28.1). While it had long been assumed that Paul had been shipwrecked in Malta, it has recently been proven that it must have been the west Greek island of Cephallonia. Nonetheless, this book has lost none of its fascination. A Croatian translation was first published in 2008. – partly stained; two maps washed, otherwise in good condition.

Bibliography: Thomas Hartwell Horne – A Manual of Biblical Bibliography. London, 1889. (p. 315); Bibliography of fossil vertebrates exclusive of North America, 1509-1929. Vol 1. New York, 1962. (p. 539); Heinz Warnecke – Die tatsächliche Romfahrt des Apostels Paulus. Stuttgart, 1989; Ignjat Ðurdevic: Sveti Pavao apostol brodolomac, with foreword by Miho Demovic. Zagreb 2008.

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