C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
John Calvin (1509–1564)
Calvin, John (kal’vin). A celebrated reformer and theologian; born at Noyon, in Picardy, July 10, 1509; died in Geneva, May 27, 1564. Soon after taking a degree, he went to Paris for the study of the humanities. In Paris he came under the influence of the teachers of the new theology; and before long (1534) had to flee from France seeking refuge at Basel. There he published his greatest work: ‘Institutes of the Christian Religion’ (1536), first in Latin, then in a French version; he afterward revised and enlarged the work, and the author’s definitive edition was published in 1559. Next after the ‘Institutes,’ Calvin’s most important work is his ‘Commentaries on the New Testament.’ His complete works were published in 12 folio volumes (1617). In the libraries of Geneva and Zürich are about 3,000 of his unpublished sermons and other writings. (See Critical and Biographical Introduction).