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Lectio Studies

Published rights research for a work the Archive cites but does not reproduce.

Rights dossier — Sermones (St. Augustine), citation-only index

Researched: 2026-08-09. Queue item sermones-st-augustine (apps/web/content/cited-sources/manifest.json, category PATRISTICS, citedByCount: 17, citesCount: 0).

Verdict: CLEAR on rights, PARTIAL on coverage — 6 of 17 (35%) of our cited sermons fall inside a public-domain English collection. The other 11 exist in English only in the modern, fully-copyrighted New City Press (Hill/Rotelle) translation. This is a citation-only address index (LS-KG-02 §1/§7 — no source text stored), so nothing here blocks the current entry; the finding matters if/when this work is ever considered for translation-linking or text ingestion.

What we actually cite

The 17 connections are recorded as nodes in apps/api/ingestion/vault/imported/catechism-sources.json with workSlug: "sermones-st-augustine". Each heading is a locus in the form sermon, chapter, section (standard Maurist/Migne PL numbering — plain numbers, no Denis/Dolbeau/Morin/Guelf./Frangipane prefix, so these are definitely the classic 1–396 numbered corpus, not one of the 20th-century "newly discovered" sermon collections that use a separate numbering track):

| Sermon # | Locus (heading) | In PD range (51–147)? | | --: | :-- | :-- | | 18 | 18, 4, 4 | No | | 33 | 33, 2, 2 | No | | 43 | 43, 7, 9 | No | | 52 | 52, 6, 16 | Yes | | 56 | 56, 6, 9 | Yes | | 57 | 57, 7, 7 | Yes | | 58 | 58, 11, 13 | Yes | | 78 | 78, 6 | Yes | | 96 | 96, 7, 9 | Yes | | 169 | 169, 11, 13 | No | | 186 | 186, 1 | No | | 213 | 213, 8 | No | | 214 | 214, 11 | No | | 241 | 241, 2 | No | | 267 | 267, 4 | No | | 272 | 272 | No | | 298 | 298, 4–5 | No |

The numbering trap (worth naming explicitly)

Augustine's Sermones are cited today by Maurist/Migne (PL) numbering — that's what our loci use. The 19th-century English translation (Oxford Library of the Fathers, 1844/45, reprinted with revisions as NPNF1 vol. 6, Buffalo 1888) is not a complete set — it is a selection, titled "Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament," and it renumbers the selection sequentially starting at 1, with the Maurist/PL number given in a bracketed gloss per sermon (e.g. "Sermon 6 on the New Testament [LVI. Ben.]" = Maurist Sermon 56).

I verified the mapping is linear and contiguous, with no gaps, by checking five points across the sequence on the New Advent mirror of the NPNF text (which preserves this bracketed numbering):

| NPNF sequence # | Bracketed Maurist/Ben. # | URL checked | | --: | --: | :-- | | 1 | LI (51) | newadvent.org/fathers/160301.htm | | 6 | LVI (56) | newadvent.org/fathers/160306.htm | | 28 | LXXVIII (78) | newadvent.org/fathers/160328.htm | | 46 | XCVI (96) | newadvent.org/fathers/160346.htm | | 97 | CXLVII (147) | newadvent.org/fathers/160397.htm |

Formula: NPNF sequence # = Maurist # − 50, for Maurist #51–147 inclusive (97 sermons, no skips across the five checkpoints spanning the full range). So: the PD selection covers Maurist Sermons 51 through 147, and nothing outside that band — not sermons 1–50 (mostly Old Testament lessons) and not 148 onward (the de verbis Apostoli/Pauline-lesson sermons continuing past 147, nor any of the de tempore liturgical-season sermons 184–272-ish, nor the de sanctis/various-subjects sermons 273 on).

Candidate editions verified

1. NPNF1 vol. 6 — the recommended PD edition for the 6 in-range sermons

A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series, Vol. VI — St. Augustin: Sermon on the Mount; Harmony of the Gospels; Homilies on the Gospels (the "Homilies on the Gospels" is the volume's running head for the "Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament" selection). Translated by Rev. R. G. MacMullen, edited by Philip Schaff, preface by E. B. Pusey.

| | | | :-- | :-- | | Publisher | Christian Literature Publishing Co., Buffalo, 1888 | | Verified scan (IA) | aselectlibrary06unknuoft | | PD basis | US publication well before 1930 |

Single volume, contains all 97 sermons (Maurist 51–147) in one book — the simplest citation target for the 6 covered sermons.

2. Library of the Fathers, vols. XVI & XX — the original (pre-NPNF) PD translation

A Library of Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church, Anterior to the Division of the East and West (Oxford, J. H. Parker; general editors Pusey, Keble, Newman). Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament by S. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, translated by R. G. MacMullen — the same translation NPNF1-06 later reprinted/revised.

| Vol. | Contents | Year | IA id | | :-- | :-- | :-- | :-- | | XVI (Sermons vol. I) | S. Matthew, S. Mark, S. Luke | 1844 | 16ALibraryOfFathersOfTheHolyCatholicV16 | | XX (Sermons vol. II) | S. John, Acts, Romans, 1 Cor., Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 Thess., 1 Timothy, Titus, James, 1 John | 1845 | 20ALibraryOfFathersOfTheHolyCatholicV20 |

Both pre-1930 (indeed pre-1923 many times over), Oxford-published — PD by any measure. I did not verify the exact Maurist-number split point between vol. XVI and vol. XX from the scans (the AI-summarized title-page read on 16ALibraryOfFathersOfTheHolyCatholicV16 was unreliable — it returned a garbled "1839/1844" date pair, likely conflating the whole-series first-volume date with this volume's own date). This doesn't affect the rights verdict: LF is PD regardless of the split, and NPNF1 vol. 6 (single volume, confirmed range) is the cleaner citation target anyway. If LF is ever preferred over NPNF (e.g. for a translation closer to the original, pre-Schaff-revision wording), the split point should be pinned down from the actual contents pages before citing a specific volume per sermon.

3. New City Press (Hill/Rotelle) — the complete set, NOT public domain

The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century, Part III — Sermons, 11 vols., trans. Edmund Hill OP, ed. John E. Rotelle, New City Press, 1990–1997. This is the only complete English translation of the Sermones (all ~590 known sermons including the 20th-century Dolbeau/Denis/Morin discoveries) and covers all 11 of our not-in-NPNF sermons. It is fully in copyright (translation published 1990s; translator/editor deaths well within copyright term). None of it may be used.

Two traps encountered and worth naming in-dossier

  1. earlychurchtexts.com mislabels its Sermon 272 text as "from the NPNF series." I checked this directly (earlychurchtexts.com/public/augustine_sermon_272_eucharist.htm, which states "The English translation below is from the NPNF series"). This is false — Sermon 272 (Maurist #272) is far outside NPNF1 vol. 6's confirmed 51–147 range. The text on that page is almost certainly the Hill/New City Press translation (or some other in-copyright rendering), mislabeled. Do not trust "NPNF" attributions for any sermon numbered above 147 without checking the actual NPNF volume.
  2. wesleyscholar.com hosts freely-downloadable PDFs named Augustine-Sermons-1-19.pdf, Augustine-Sermons-148-183.pdf, Augustine-Sermons-184-229.pdf, Augustine-Sermons-341-400.pdf, etc. These filename ranges match the New City Press 11-volume division exactly (e.g. Goodreads lists "Sermons 184-229Z (Vol. III/6)" as a discrete New City Press volume; archive.org/stream/saint-augustine-sermons/... — an "11 vols" scan — contains sermon 272B, confirming it's the same Hill set). Free and PDF-shaped does not mean public domain — these are pirated/scanned copies of the in-copyright modern translation, not a PD edition. Vatican.va's "Sermons of the Fathers" devotional page for Sermon 241 should be treated the same way unless its translator credit is checked — I did not verify its source and it is not needed for this verdict since 241 is outside the PD band regardless of which modern translation is quoted.

Coverage table (final)

| Sermon # | PD English available? | Edition | Note | | --: | :-- | :-- | :-- | | 18 | No | — | Below range (OT-lesson sermon, not in the "Selected Lessons of the NT" set) | | 33 | No | — | Below range | | 43 | No | — | Below range | | 52 | Yes | NPNF1 vol. 6 (aselectlibrary06unknuoft), seq. #2 [LII. Ben.]; also LF | | | 56 | Yes | NPNF1 vol. 6, seq. #6 [LVI. Ben.] — verified directly; also LF | | | 57 | Yes | NPNF1 vol. 6, seq. #7 [LVII. Ben.]; also LF | | | 58 | Yes | NPNF1 vol. 6, seq. #8 [LVIII. Ben.]; also LF | | | 78 | Yes | NPNF1 vol. 6, seq. #28 [LXXVIII. Ben.] — verified directly; also LF | | | 96 | Yes | NPNF1 vol. 6, seq. #46 [XCVI. Ben.] — verified directly; also LF | | | 169 | No | — | Above range ("de verbis Apostoli" series continues past 147) | | 186 | No | — | Above range (de tempore, Christmas) | | 213 | No | — | Above range | | 214 | No | — | Above range | | 241 | No | — | Above range (Easter) | | 267 | No | — | Above range | | 272 | No | — | Above range (famous Eucharist sermon; watch the earlychurchtexts.com mislabel above) | | 298 | No | — | Above range |

Coverage: 6 of 17 (35%).

What I could NOT establish

  • The exact Maurist-number split point between LF vol. XVI and vol. XX (not needed — NPNF1 vol. 6 is the recommended single-volume citation target and its range is fully verified).
  • The translator/source attribution for vatican.va's Sermon 241 excerpt (not needed — 241 is outside the PD band under any translation).
  • Whether any other obscure pre-1930 anthology (e.g. a 19th-century Anglican "Sermons for the Christian Year" compilation) happens to include one of the 11 out-of-range sermons in full. I ran a targeted search and found nothing; a negative isn't provable, but nothing turned up.

Recommendation

No action needed for the citation-only entry itself — LS-KG-02 §1/§7 means no text is stored regardless. If this work is ever revisited for translation-linking: link the 6 in-range sermons (52, 56, 57, 58, 78, 96) to NPNF1 vol. 6 (IA aselectlibrary06unknuoft) using the NPNF seq = Maurist − 50 mapping above; leave the other 11 unlinked (no PD English exists) rather than substituting a New City Press citation.

Sources

  • apps/web/content/cited-sources/manifest.json — the sermones-st-augustine entry
  • apps/api/ingestion/vault/imported/catechism-sources.json — 17 nodes with workSlug: "sermones-st-augustine", giving the exact loci
  • https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf106.html — NPNF1-06 landing/summary page
  • https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1603.htm — index of the 97-sermon selection (sequential #s 1–97)
  • https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/160301.htm, 160306.htm, 160328.htm, 160346.htm, 160397.htm — bracketed Maurist-numbering checkpoints
  • https://archive.org/details/aselectlibrary06unknuoft — NPNF1 vol. 6 scan (Buffalo, Christian Literature Co., ed. Schaff)
  • https://archive.org/details/16ALibraryOfFathersOfTheHolyCatholicV16 — LF vol. XVI (Sermons vol. I, Matt/Mark/Luke)
  • https://archive.org/details/20ALibraryOfFathersOfTheHolyCatholicV20 — LF vol. XX (Sermons vol. II, John/Acts/Epistles)
  • https://earlychurchtexts.com/public/augustine_sermon_272_eucharist.htm — mislabeled "NPNF" attribution trap
  • https://wesleyscholar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Augustine-Sermons-184-229.pdf (and sibling PDFs) — pirated New City Press scans, in-copyright trap
  • https://archive.org/stream/saint-augustine-sermons/... — "Saint Augustine - Sermons in 11 vols" (confirms New City Press 11-vol structure, incl. Sermon 272B)
  • https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/16108880 — "Sermons 184-229Z (Vol. III/6)" — confirms New City Press volume-numbering scheme
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