Pierre Coustant - Hilary of Poitiers

Hilary of Poitiers

His work did not remain unnoticed by the Abbot General of the Maurist congregation. When Mabillon suggested a new edition of the works of Hilary of Poitiers, it was Coustant whom the abbot general selected; there was before this time practically only one edition, namely the defective and uncritical one published by Erasmus (Basle, 1523). The subsequent editions of Miraeus (Paris 1544), Lipsius (Basle, 1550), Simon Grynaeus (Basle, 1570), Gillotius (Paris 1572), and the one issued by the Paris Typographical Society in 1605 were little more than reprints of the Erasmian text. After making himself conversant with St. Hilary's terminology and train of thought, Coustant compared manuscripts with a view to restoring the original text. In a general preface he proved the Catholicity of Hilary's doctrine concerning the birth of Christ from the Virgin Mary, the Holy Eucharist, Grace, the Last Judgment, the Holy Trinity, and other Catholic dogmas. The preface is followed by two biographical sketches of the saint, the former of which was composed by Coustant himself from the writings of Hilary, while the latter is a reproduction of the life written by Fortunatus of Poitiers. Each treatise is preceded by a special preface stating its occasion and purpose, and the time when it was written. Difficult and obscure passages are explained in foot-notes.

This edition of St. Hilary is a model work of its kind, one of the most esteemed literary productions of the Maurist Congregation. It was published in one folio volume at Paris in 1693 and bears the title: Sancti Hilarii Pictavorum episcopi opera ad manuscriptos codices gallicanos, romanos, belgicos, nec non ad veteres editiones castigata, aliquot aueta opusculis, etc. The work was published with a few additions by Scipio Maffei (Verona, 1730) and by Migne, Patrologia Latina, IX and X.