34. Aegidius Strauch, Breviarium Chronologicum. Being a Treatise Describing the Terms and Most Celebrated Characters, Periods and Epocha’s us’d in Chronology (London, 1699).

Strauch (1632–82) was a German Lutheran theologian. This account of the world from the Creation until the division of the Roman Empire into two separate entities in 285 AD was first published in 1664.

Strauch was not interested in mere history, which he dismissed as a ‘relation of things done in the course of time’ (p.2) but in the ‘Science’ of chronology which ascribed exact dates and times to major historical events. Strauch acknowledged that the Scriptures were not sufficient for this task, and had to be supplemented with details provided by classical historians and chroniclers. The philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) described Breviarium Chronologicum as the ‘most useful Book I have ever seen in that part of Learning.’

This book was purchased in March 1937 to replace a copy missing from Marsh’s Library since 1766.