John Smith, ed., Historiae ecclesiasticae gentis Anglorum libri quinque, auctore Sancto & Venerabili Baeda presbytero Anglo-Saxone, una cum reliquis ejus operibus historicis in unum volumen collectis (Cambridge, 1722).
This volume includes the second oldest edition in England of Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum as well as that of its Old English translation. The editor of this volume is John Smith (1659-1715), who was a clergyman of Church of England and historian. From 1682 on, Smith worked in and near Durham, and began to collect material for a history of Durham. He was especially interested in Bede, who is buried in the Durham Cathedral, and in his Ecclesiastical History. In 1704, he became a rector of Wearmouth, where Bede used to live, and this must also have increased his interest in Bede, which culminated in this collection of Bede's works together with some other related works.
The volume includes beautiful engravings of Bede and Cuthbert's alter, Bede's tomb, and Cuthbert's tomb, all in the Durham Cathedral, as well as a large folded map of Britain at the time of Bede.
This volume includes the following texts in this order:
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum;
Vita sancti Cuthberti;
Vita sanctorum abbatum monasterii in Uyramutha et Gyruum;
Bedae epistola ad Ecgberctum antistitem;
De locis sanctis libellus;
Martyrologium;
Beati felicis confessoris vita;
Old English Bede;
Appendix;
Vita Bedae venerabilis presbyteri et monachi Gyruuensis;
Vita Bedae auctore annonymo pervetusto.
Appendix includes many short texts. While the text of Old English Bede in this volume is based on Wheelocke's editio princeps published in 1643, that of the Latin original is the first critical edition of the work based on actual manuscripts. The eighth-century Moore manuscript of Bede's Ecclesiastical History became readily accessible after 1701, and Smith used it as the main text for his edition. Smith did not finish his edition before his death in 1715, but his eldest son, George Smith (1693-1756) took it over and eventually published it in 1722. It is reputed as a good edition, and remained the standard edition of the work until Charles Plummer's edition Venerabilis Baedae Historiam ecclesiasticam gentis Anglorum, Historiam abbatum, Epistolam ad Ecgberctum, una cum Historia abbatum auctore anonymo (2 vols.) was published in 1896.
My copy used to be in possession of Henry Benjamin Hanbury Beaufoy (1786-1851), who is known for his Shakespeare collection. Another previous owner was the late Eric G. Stanley, former Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor at the University of Oxford. The volume has bookplates of these former owners.
For more information about this book, see also this website.