On the verso of the last leaf are the signatures of “custodians” of the archconfraternity in Rome below which are two paper and wax seals (one lacking the paper) with the seals' owners' names below, attesting to the completion of the application process and the grant ing of the petition.

Binding:  Contemporary crimson morocco, covers lavishly gilt-tooled. The center panel is richly filled with floral motifs and small stars surrounding a center emblem of the hands of St. Francis within a circular border of flames. Surrounding the center panel are four outer frames created by variety of large and small rolls. Marbled paper pastedowns in an unusual “patchwork” style.

•  Binding as above, manuscript recased, without the original ties. Some text rubbed and illegible, clean cracks in fourth leaf, crudely repaired hole in last leaf causing text loss. Curious green tarnishing of the gold. A most attractive binding, a beautifully painted manuscript, an interesting artifact of Catholic social history, anda great tool for teaching about conservation concerns.  (39295)

•  STC (2nd ed.) 2947; Darlow & Moule 371; ESTC S121246; Herbert 480.   Contemporary mottled calf, covers framed and panelled in gilt double fillets with gilt-stamped corner fleurons, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, all edges gilt; binding rubbed, leather moderately acid-pitted, joints cracked, rectangle of leather lost at upper inner corner of front cover. Lower edges of closed book rubber-stamped; free endpapers excised; lower outer corners lightly waterstained at rear; pages otherwise slightly age-toned but notably clean. A sound, good copy.  (24066)

large, magnificent Benedictine Psalter

The text appears here in sepia ink in a large Renaissance rotunda hand, set forth to the point of our bracket above, illuminated and featuringa large miniature of King David filling the center of a large initial B. Along the bottom margin in three medallions are Saints Mark, Benedict (center bottom), and Laurence; the right margin has two additional medallion portraits of unidentified female figures. The margins are garnished with gilt and bright-colored flowers, among which hidesthe small image of a deer — “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God”?

•  Matted and under glass in an elegant 20th-century gilt frame, ready for hanging. We have not opened this to discover whether Psalm 1 continues (or Job concludes) on the other side of the leaf, but the suspicion must be, given the beauty and quality of the side showing, that this is a leaf that would benefit from double-glazing showcasing both sides.  (33296)

We also offer links to selected
SPECIAL CATAGORIES of CATHOLICA
at the end of this catalogue . . .

ODE for the End of aTwelve-Day Celebration

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•  A poem entitled “Odita” and beginning “Salve cándido Lirio, Purisima Azucena, Fragrantisima Rosa, Cipres y Palma bella.” The poem is in twelve 4-line stanzas, printed within a double frame of printer's ornaments in double columns separated by a column composed of a third ornament. Signed at the end “L.A.”

We locate only the copy at Brown University.

•  As issued. Two circular wormholes, one at the left edge of the sheet and one just touching print within the outer border; pleasantly if not quite perfectly clean, and very handsome.  (30389)

Title-Border & Initials by Hans Baldun Grien
Ex–Donaueschigen Library

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•  Strassbourgh printer Knoblouch here producesthe first edition of the Humanist commentaries of Johannes Adelphus and Jakop Wimpheling on the Sequences of the Mass and the Hymns of the Breviary, respectively.

The Corpus Christi Watershed dot org website explains the Sequences: “First appearing in the ninth century, the sequences rose to a level of fair prominence in the medieval period. Their heyday lasted until the liturgical reforms enacted during the Counter-Reformation. At the height of their usage, there were proper sequences for nearly every Sunday and feast day (outside penitential seasons). Their usage varied widely, however, since the sequences were never obligatory.” Simply put, they are the liturgical hymns of the Mass, and occur on festivals between the Gradual and the Gospel. By contrast, the Hymns belong to the Breviary and are fixed.

The text and commentary of the Sequences are here paired with those of the Hymns as the second part of the volume, with a separate title-page but signatures continuous, titled “Hymni de tempore [et] de sanctis: in ea[m] forma[m] qua a suis autoribus scripti sunt denuo redacti: [et] s[ecundu]m legem carminis dilige[n]ter emendati atq[ue] interpretati.” The Hymns fill the final 80 leaves.

Adelphus's commentary on the Sequences is a reworking of the familiar medieval commentary with the vocabulary brought up to date to make it less scholastic. Adelphus also occasionally adds contemporary references, including at least one allusion to his own translation into German of Sebastian Brant's De laude Hierosolymae. The most thorough revision this edition makes is to the sequence-commentary notes on grammar and linguistic usage, and there are additional references to classical models of expression.

Wimpheling introduces his commentary to the Hymns with prefatory comments in which he supports the contribution that training in the arts of literary expression can make to a proper understanding of religious texts. He promotes the pedagogic virtues of the hymns themselves; in particular, he notes that the diversity of meter they employ makes them apt vehicles for teaching Latin prosody while the grammatical and rhetorical skills acquired from studying them will in turn lead to a sharper, more sophisticated and more accurate reading of hymns as texts of Christian spirituality, and therefore to a deeper piety.

Hans Baldung Grien provided the title-page woodcut boarders [Oldenbourg 236] and two large historiated initials, one at the beginning of each part, respectively: the Death of the Virgins [Oldenbourg 232] and the Adoration [Oldenbourg 221].

On this important edition, see Ann Moss, “Latin Liturgical Hymns and their Early Printing History” (Humanistica Louvaniensia, XXXVI [1987], 125-28).

Provenance:  Impressed into the front board are the initals L C V of the Franciscan convent of Villigen; upon suppression of the convent, to the Donaueschigen Library, its oval stamp on the verso of the title-page; that library sold in 1994; later in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Proctor 10081; Adams L1126; VD16 S5978 & H6503; Index Aurel. 100.597; Schmidt, Knobloch, VII, 82; Ritter 5; Oldenbourg, Hans Baldung Grien, L28.   Original wooden boards, rebacked in 19th-century pigskin with old paper label and evidence of single missing clasp; provenance marks as above. Variable old water- and dampstaining, no tattering or tears, title-pages lovely.  (40642)

Christian History’s Chronicle

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•  Later edition of thistranslation into Spanish of Adrichem’s history of Biblical events to the year 109 a.d. An additional “Chronicon Breve” at the end of the volume gives a chronology from Adam and Eve to the year 1585.

The title is within a typographic border; text is printed in double-column format, in roman type.

•  Palau 2864. 19th-century half sheep with marbled paper sides; binding shows wear. Lower margin of title-leaf and leaves of the preliminaries with minor worming; repaired with pasted-over paper. Some side- and shouldernotes shaved with loss. Sporadic soiling, not severe.  (16919)

A Lovingly Read Copy of a BookBoth Praised & Pilloried
by Paulus Manutius

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•  First edition of Alcionio's controversial Ciceronian dialogue on the nature of exile, set in 1512 and taking place among Pope Leo X, the future Pope Clement VII (Alcionio's patron, at the time of writing still known as Giulio de' Medici), and Lorenzo, the Duke of Urbino. Venetian humanist and translator Alcionio (1487–1527, a.k.a., Alcinio, Alciono, or Alcyonius) was probably working as acorrector for the Aldine press when this was published; he later went on to become Professor of Greek at Florence before following his patron to Rome. Paulus Manutius claimed that portions were actually plagiarized from an unknown copy of Cicero's De Gloria which Alcionio subsequently destroyed, a claim that unjustly tarnished Alcionio's reputation during his lifetime though later proven to be false; and the praise of his Latin implied by that led Brunet to note that the “accusation est le plus bel éloge que l'on ait pu faire de l'ouvreage d'Alcyonius.”

The text is printed in single columns using italic type with the iconic Aldine device on the title-page and final page of text; corrections and a register precede the colophon. This copy also retains the two internal blanks.

Evidence of Readership: A reader has added marginal notes, brackets, or underlinings in an early hand on almost every page of text.

Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Adams A633; Brunet, I, 153; EDIT16 CNCE 859; Graesse, I, 64; Kallendorf & Wells, Aldine Press Books, 194; Renouard, Alde, p. 95, no. 6; UCLA, Aldine Press: Catalogue of the Ahmanson-Murphy Collection (2001), 215. On Alcionio, see: Contemporaries of Erasmus, I; Treccani (online).   Modern half vellum and brown paper over boards, all edges speckled red; vellum foxed, paper dust-soiled with spots and stains. Very light waterstaining throughout, light to moderate marginal foxing somewhat less generally. Evidence of readership and booklabel as above; ink quite faded, some marginalia trimmed at edges, with two corners also slightly shaved. A well-read and much-marked copy of a book with a fascinating history of reception.  (39423)

Defense of a Marian Cult

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•  The author, a Franciscan missionary and a native of León, Guanajuato, here defends the cult of the Virgin Mary that is known in Spanish as la Luz. Some opprobrium had come to be attached to the cult when the Fourth Mexican Provincial Council condemned it, but as the actions of that council were never approved or ratified by the Vatican, the condemnation was nullified.

•  Medina, Mexico, 79191; Palau 6095; on Alcocer, see: Archivo biográfico de España, Portugal e Iberoamérica, fiche 23, frames 47–49.   Contemporary cockled vellum, lacking the buttons for its loops, and lacking also the engraving; a very few light stains to a very few pages. Actually, quite a nice copy of the text.  (36658)

EVERYONE You Need to Know in France — Bright, Fresh, IN THE BOX!

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•  1829's issue of this useful and decorative annual, “orné de jolies gravures.” The preliminary calendar is followed by genealogical information for European nobility, thelist of French bishops and archbishops, the royal household roster (both domestic and military), names and positions of civil servants by department, members of chivalrous orders, major military officers, etc. Thefour steel-engraved plates offer views of the Chateau de Neuilly, Chateau d'Avaray, Chateau de Lucienne, and Chateau de Rosny (with brief descriptions of these noble residences).

Binding:  Publisher's apple green paper–covered boards in original matching slipcase with gilt-stamped spine title. All edges gilt.

•  Binding as above: lower front and back edges each with tiny bump, extremities showing very slight rubbing, slipcase with edges rubbed and a few small spots of discoloration. Front free endpaper with pencilled annotations in French. Pages and plates clean. Really in quite remarkable condition.  (30574)

Splendid Ceremony for a Sad Remembrance, with thePLATE

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•  VERY SPECIAL CEREMONIES COMMEMORATED THE DEATH OF A KING OR A QUEEN.   In Lima at the midpoint of the 18th century news arrived in the viceregal capital of the passing of Queen Maria Anna Josefa (1683–1754), consort of John V, King of Portugal. She died on 14 August and plans were immediately proposed for commemorating her life and death when the news arrived in Peru in the early months of 1755.

Poems were solicited, designs for the ceremonial cenotaph were proposed, special events were planned, a sermon-giver was selected: And this volume was printed to tell later generations about those events as they were eventually accomplished on 15 March 1756. We learn from the volume who the special dignitaries were, who said what, and what the processions and the order of the marchers were; and we are given a detailed description of the cenotaph, its ornaments, and the texts of the poems and epigrams (chiefly on pp. 80 through 237) recited. The editor, Alvitez, was a Franciscan.

Fray Francisco Ponze de Leon, a Mercedarian, chief regent of the Royal University of San Marcos, gave the “Oracion funebre, que a la memoria de la fidelissima señora doña Mariana Josepha de Austria,” which occupies the final 49 leaves here.

Fray Antonio de Contreras, another Mercedarian, engraved the likeness of the elaborate cenotaph that the viceroy had constructed for the day honoring the late queen.The plate is large and folding.

The poems are romances, redondillas, sonnets, decimas, etc. One poem is even an example of concrete poetry and two others are in Portuguese! (by Antonio Alberto, and Juan Julian Capetillo de la Sota, who also supplied a poem in ENGLISH). The poets include Viceroy Jose Manso de Velasco; Nicolás Sarmiento de Sotomayor y los Ríos del Campo, IV conde del Portillo; various other nobles; and one woman, Josefa Brava de Lagunas y Villela.

Provenance: 19th-century bookplate of Guillermo Miguel Irarrazabal.

The number of “splendid ceremonies” books produced in colonial Peru is small: There is no census but we suspect the number to be fewer than nine.

Searches of NUC and WoldCat find only five copies in U.S. libraries, not all of them complete with the plate. Searches of WorldCat, COPAC, CCPB, and KVK locate only 4 other copies worldwide.

•  Medina, Lima, 1103; Vargas Ugarte, Impresos peruanos, 1736.   Contemporary limp vellum, lacking ties. Unidentified rubber-stamp on front free endpaper (smudged, indistinct). Repair to rear free endpaper and small repair to folding plate. Clean, crisp, unwormed. A very good copy.  (34629)

A Powerhouse Trio on Celibacy & Virginity — From the Aldine Press at Rome

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•  Brought together here are St. Ambrose's De virginitate, St. Jerome's Epistola ad Demetriadem de virginitate servandra, and St. Augustine's De sancta virginitate, three important works by three Church Fathers on celibacy and virginity, concerns of the early church that greatly affected the life of early clergy and nuns and had significant ramifications for laity as well. The Roman Aldine press essentially served as an extension of the papacy, which capitalized on its fame to disseminate — with great cachet — Vatican-approved texts in the publication war that was such an integral part of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, this work being no exception.

This neatly printed text has single columns with unaccomplished guide letters and shouldernotes using roman font; the iconic Aldine device appears on the title-page and an errata list appears in double-column format at the end.

Provenance:  The printer's mark of Jan Baptiste Verdussen II depicting a stork feeding a snake to another stork with the Latin motto “Virtus pietas homini tutissima,” which can be dated between 1659 and 1759, has been excised from another source and affixed to the front pastedown (possibly as a bookplate, as speculated by the Provenance Online Project); this title is later listed in the auction catalogue of Jean-Baptiste Verdussen III's book collection, suggesting this copy may have belonged to the Verdussen family. Two early inked signatures of G.J. Enoch and I.F. Vanderelie also appear on the front endpapers. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

Searches of WorldCat and NUC located only four U.S. libraries reporting ownership (CLU, LNT, MnCS, UPB).

•  Adams A950; EDIT16 CNCE 16242; Index Aurel. 104.682; Renouard, Alde, p. 186, no. 7; UCLA, Aldine Press: Catalogue of the Ahmanson-Murphy Collection (2001), 678. Not in Kallendorf & Wells, Aldine Press Books. On the Aldine press at Rome, see: Curt Buhler, “Manutius and His First Roman Printings,” Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, 46, pp. 209–14.   19th-century polished calf, spine stamped in gilt with two gilt-stamped leather title-labels, covers framed with a dog-tooth roll, two gilt fillets, and small fleurons at corners; gilt floral rolls to board edges and turn-ins, all edges stained red, with marbled endpapers. Binding rubbed and refurbished, one leather spine label chipped and the other removed; spotting on endpapers, evidence of a removed bookplate at back. Mostly light offsetting of text throughout, intermittent mild to moderate unobtrusive waterstaining (including to title-page) and other spotting; title-page and eight more leaves of text with marginal repairs, one gutter showing narrow band of discoloration (possibly glue action). Provenance indicia as above, two pencilled endpaper notes. An important collection from an interesting era of the Aldine Press; and a strong, in fact quite handsome copy.  (37366)

It Looks LikeWhat an Incunable is SUPPOSED to Look Like

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•  “The Summa Theologica (1477), more properly the Summa Moralis, is the work upon which [St. Antoninus's] theological fame chiefly rests . . . [it] is probably the first — certainly the most comprehensive — treatment from a practical point of view of Christian ethics, asceticism, and sociology in the Middle Ages” (NCE, I, 647).

After his ordination in 1413 (at Cortona, where he was sent for the Dominican novitiate along with artists Fra Angelico and Fra Bartolommeo!), Antoninus (1389–1459) swiftly attained prominence in the Church; returning to his native Florence, he consecrated the Convent of San Marco in 1443 and was appointed Archbishop of that city just a few years later. A great yet humble reformer whose writings were widely published even in the incunable period, Antoninus washailed as a Doctor of the Church in the bull for his canonization.

The Summa, completed shortly before his death, is divided into four parts: the first is concerned with the soul and its faculties, passions, sin, and law; the second addresses different types of sin and redress; the third considers various states and professions in life, with treatises on ecclesiastical offices and censures; and the fourth contemplates the cardinal virtues, religious morals, and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Although the text draws heavily on earlier theological works by St. Thomas Aquinas, among others, it is regarded as“a new and very considerable development in moral theology” (NCE online), and it containsa wealth of matter for the student of 15th-century history.

Printed in Gothic type, double-column format, with most capitals supplied in red or blue manuscript in plain style, the text here has red markings to aid in reading and navigation. Topics addressed in these volumes include sin, penance, canon law, will, original sin, privilege, lying, pride, avarice, anger, and infidelity, among several others.

Goff and ISTC find only one complete set of all volumes in American libraries — at the Countway in Boston. All other U.S. libraries, save the Newberry, report owning one or two of the volumes. The Newberry has volumes I–IV.

Provenance:  Old illegible European library stamp in lower margin of first leaf of vol. I; in 20th and early 21st century in the library of the Pacific School of Religion (properly deaccessioned).

•  ISTC ia00878000; Goff A878; BMC, I, 109; GKW 2192.   Contemporary calf over bevelled wood boards, recently rebacked and new endpapers supplied; lacks a blank and a title leaf. Leather of boards elaborately and richly tooled in blind using rolls, rules, and individual stamps of a rose, a fleur de lis, and a saint; small area of leather on front board missing and substitute leather inserted. Evidence of bass and leather clasps, remnants of vellum guide tabs. Text and boards of binding wormed, mostly with many pinhole wormholes, and text with some meandering; no great losses. Some small tears in a few margins and one lower margin with an old repair; stamp as above; browning to many margins. A good, solid volume, one with some condition issues but at the same time a good example of these productions and the era's printing.  (33734)

A Spy Accuses an Archbishop of Heresy

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•  First edition, uncut copy: A counter-revolutionary pamphleteer and secret agent offers sharply worded thoughts on France's relationship to the Roman Catholic Church, addressed to Etienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne, Archbishop of Sens and minister of finance to Louis XVI — with the Count attacking Brienne as impious and incompetent. A preliminary notice to the reader notes that the work would have appeared much earlier if two shipments made in Paris had not been“unconstitutionally seized” by Jacobite agents.

Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only six U.S. institutional holdings.

•  Martin & Walter 396.   Never bound, sewn as issued, with edges untrimmed. Title-page with affixed paper shelving label in lower inner corner and pencilled monogram in upper outer portion. One leaf with closed split running through several lines, without loss of text.  (30813)

Printing for “the Other Side”?

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•  The Apostolic Canons or Ecclesiastical Canons of the Holy Apostles is an important collection of85 ancient ecclesiastical decrees concerning the government and discipline of the Early Christian Church, here printed by a Reformation supporter. Andreas Wechel also printed the works of French humanists Petrus Ramus and Nicholas Durand de Villegagnon before narrowly avoiding the St. Batholomew’s Day massacre thanks to Hubert Languet. He later moved to Frankfort, and died in 1581.

This offering is printed in single columns, with Greek text and Latin commentary surrounded by mostly Greek shouldernotes; Wechel’s printer’s device appears on the title- and final pages.

Searches of WorldCat, NUC, and COPAC revealno copies of this edition in a U.S. institution, and only one internationally in Rome.

Evidence of Readership: An early reader has added eight notes, one of which has been slightly trimmed through rebinding, that reference the Bible or other rule-sources.

Provenance:  Early inked note on title-page reads “Ex. Bibl. S. Bern, Fulient. Paris”; institutional rubber-stamps (including a release stamp) of the Bibliothèque Impériale of Paris on title-page and three leaves of text. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  On Wechelus, see: Renouard, Imprimeurs parisiens, p. 435.   Modern paste paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-lettered brown leather spine label. Moderate age-toning with spotting on first and last few leaves; faint waterstaining darkening to more noticeable towards the end, covering perhaps a third of the page; provenance and readership markings as above, with one rubber-stamp lightly offsetting onto facing leaf.  (37909)

Death Comes for the Bishop

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•  The author was a canon of the cathedral in Guadalajara and here eulogizes the bishop of Guadalajara, Mexico, a member of the Order of Preachers. The work hasa large, handsome woodcut  of the coat of arms of the dedicatee, the viceroy of New Spain

WorldCat locates copies at only three U.S. libraries (NYPL, JCB, Cushing).

•  Medina, Mexico, 2064.   Removed from a nonce volume and now in plain wrappers; evidence of marca de fuego in upper edge. Wormtracking to gutter margin near page-tops, touching or occasionally costing a letter; otherwise, and saving an old small inkblot to title-page, in very clean and even fresh condition.  (41414)

Literati of Antwerp Salute One of Their Own — Portrait after Peter Paul Rubens
Woodcut *&* Engraved Versions of the Plantin Device

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•  First edition. A multi-part memorial volume from the Plantin–Moretus press in honor of Philippe Rubens (1574–1611), brother of the famed artist, whose Greek and Latin rendition of the Homilies by Asterius, Bishop of Amasia (ca. 375–405), occupies the first section of the text, here in Greek and Latin printed in double columns. Little is known about Asterius, Bishop of Amasea, and there has been much scholarly debate regarding exactly which homilies should be attributed to his authorship and which to other early Christians, including Asterius the Sophist; the Catholic Encyclopedia online says his works provide “valuable material to the Christian archaeologist.”

The second section here includes verses Rubens composed in the later years prior to his death in 1611 and dedicated to illustrious members of his circle including the humanist Justus Lipsius, Janus Woverius, and Peter Paul Rubens and Isabelle Brant, who married in 1609. Brant’s father, Jan, composed the introductory letter to the reader.

The volume was published at the request of Cardinal Ascanius Columnas in an edition ofonly 750 copies, and was printed at Antwerp at the press of Moretus’ widow and sons with the famous Plantin device appearing in two versions (engraved, to the title, and woodcut, to the final recto).

A full-page engraved funeral portrait of Rubens engraved by Cornelius Galleafter Peter Paul Rubens signals the beginning of the third section, in which Jan Brant records the life of his son-in-law’s brother and transcribes his epitaph. Even Balthasar Moretus contributes an epigram in honor of the deceased.

In the fourth section, Rubens’ own orations and selected letters appear, i.a. his funeral oration to Philip II of Spain. Josse DeRycke contributed the final funerary tribute.

Done up in fully elegant Plantin–Moretus style, the volume has in addition to its careful typography and full-page plate and devices been lavished throughout with two-line block initials and four-line historiated woodcut initials; also, it offers several intricate woodcut tailpieces.

Searches of NUC Pre-1956 and WorldCat locate only eight copies in U.S. institutions, one of which has been deaccessioned; most arenot in obvious places.

•  Graesse, I, 241; Corpus Rubenianum, XXI (1977), 152.   Period-style full brown calf, covers framed in blind double fillets, spine with gilt-stamped red leather title-label, raised bands with blind tooling extending onto covers. With a few odd spots to the text only, this is aremarkably fine, crisp copy. All edges green.  (28878)

Two Church Fathers — Two Scholar Printers
An Apparatus by Erasmus

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•  Two editions of Church Fathers from two scholar/printer presses. St. Athanasius's text was translated into Latin by three noted Renaissance scholars, edited by Nicholas Beraldus, and has the added prestige of apparatus by Erasmus. The title-page is printed within a four-piece woodcut border, with the title in red and black, and the page bears the famous Petit printer's device. The text enjoys handsome typography, side- and shouldernotes, and large woodcut initials.

The St. Basil is from Badius Ascensius's press and he acted as the editor, the translators having been Johannes Argyropoulos, Georgius Trapezuntius, and others. The title-page uses the same four-part woodcut title-page border as found on the St. Athanasius, bound in at the front, which makes much sense given the familial relationship between Ascensius and Petit.

•  Athanasius: Index Aurel. 109.388; Moreau, II, 1982. Basil: Index Aurel. 114.440; Renouard, Ascensius, II, 145/146; Moreau, II, 2246. Alum-tawed pigskin, elaborately tooled in blind over wooden boards with metal and leather clasps; one clasp perished. Binding with one corner tip broken off; small hole in leather on rear board; dust-soiled. Inside, some early marginalia and underlining in red; narrow arc of old, light waterstaining to fore-edges of one part. Pages generally very clean.  (19915)

Much Marginalia & Interlinear Notes — A PMM Incunable Title

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•  The City of God is St. Augustine's fifth-century response to assertions that Christianity had caused the decline of Rome: In defending Christianity, this Church Father delves deeply into many profound questions of theology, including the suffering of the righteous, the existence of evil, the conflict between free will and divine omniscience, and the doctrine of original sin. It is considered one of the saint's most important works, a cornerstone of Western thought, and a long-established work in the traditional canon of the “great books.”

The text of thisFreiburg, Fischer incunable is printed in double-column format in gothic type, surrounded by the commentary of Thomas Wallensis (1287? –1350?) and Nicholas Trivet (1258?–1328). Its capital spaces have guide letters and a few of those spaces have been completed. The imprint is from the colophon (leaf T25) and the printer is as given by Goff.

Evidence of readership:  Chiefly one, but clearly at least three, early readers have added marginalia on more than 125 leaves of the text, chiefly in books 1 through 9 (i.e., those dealing with the polytheism of Rome [books 1–5] and Greek philosophy [books 6–10]); and one reader with a micro-mini script has added red-inked interlinear comments, additions, and/or corrections to the saint's text in those same books. Opposite the title-page is an information tree (illustration available). And on the title-page, one of the above-mentioned annotators, most likely an Augustinian friar, has added a lengthy quotation from Cassiodorus (<https://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/Chronologia/Lspost06/Cassiodorus/cas_i133.html>), but at the end attributed it to the saint (“Explicit oratio Dni Augustini”). We thank Sara Trevisan for help in identifying the quoted text.

Provenance:  16th-century ownership indicia on title-page of the Augustinian Abbey of Neustift bei Brixen (Novacella). Pasted to the front pastedown, a partially removed Spanish dealer's description; a German bookseller's description of this copy, probably pre-1928 as it doesn't cite GKV; below that a post-1964 Anglo-American dealer's description (citing Goff); the bookplate of Walter Goldwater (and sold at his sale, Swann Galleries, 1 December 1983). Acquired by Dr. Wolfgang Scholz at the Goldwater sale, and sold by his widow via an agent to PRB&M in 2019.

•  Goff A1246; Hain-Copinger 2068*; GKW 2890; BMC, III, p. 695 (IB. 14206); ISTC ia01246000; Printing & the Mind of Man 3 (for the first edition, 1467).   Late 19th- or early 20th-century half brown leather with tan paper paper sides and endpapers; binding lightly worn and covers with a bit of loss to paper. Fore- and part of upper margins of the first eight leaves damaged with loss and repaired many years ago. Some soiling to the text, chiefly in the margins; old waterstaining; pin-hole worming. Not a rare edition of this text but a nice copy of it withconsiderable added scholarly importance .  (40533)

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UNexpurgated by the Mexican Inquisition
  MS Notes in NAHUATL/AZTEC in Addition

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•  Mexico saw a major rebirth of scholarly interest in Nahuatl during the first half of the 18th century, and Fr. Avila was a contributor to it. In his introduction here (“Al pio lector”), he explains why, despite the existence of the works of Molina, Carochi, Ribera, and Manuel Perez (whose enthusiastic endorsement [“Sentir”] is part of the preliminaries), he has decided to write and publish this grammar: “solo quitar algunas dificultades, que he reconosido [sic] en los que aprenden por el discurso de veinte anos.” The work achieves this aim well. Moreover, Fr. Avila's extremely notable introduction has much to say about the physical and spiritual condition of the Indians at the beginning of 18th century and about the economic and social debt of the Spanish population to them. Sra. Leon-Portilla points out that among the “chats” (i.e, “platicas”) that form the appendix, “las destinadas a lograr una buena confesion” are of“gran importancia.”

This copyescaped the Inquisition censors who after its publication insisted that the section on folio 34r-v, “Instruccion para ensenar lo que se resive [sic] en la Hostia” be lined through.

Evidence of Readership?  Or, frugal management of paper? Or, something else entirely??  A singular quality of this among all the copies that we have ever seen is the presence oftwo additional leaves (four pages) at the end containing18th-century manuscript notes in Nahuatl for a sermon on the theme of “they who acquired divine happiness” and on conducting a confession.

Provenance:  Sold by the Linga Library of Hamburg as a duplicate. Pencil notes of a Spanish bookseller.

•  Medina, Mexico, 2478; Garcia Icazbalceta, Lenguas, 9; Vinaza 271; Newberry Library, Ayer Indians, Nahuatl 18 (incomplete, lacking title-leaf); H. de León-Portilla, Tepuztlahcuilolli, 240.   Recased in modern vellum with button and loop ties, some few leaves strengthened at inner margins. Last leaf of text torn in lower margin and expertly repaired, costing small portion of two letters; a bit of staining at some edges, particularly in early part of volume. Small round old stamp “BS” to front free endpaper, leaves filled with manuscript annotation at end as above. Very good, and very interesting. (34576)

Indulgencias Plenarias y Perpetuas

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•  First edition of this Mexican calendar of indulgences. The section titles are as follows: “Primera parte, en que se notician las indulgencias plenarias que se ganan en los dias fixos . . .” and “Segunda parte, en que se da noticia de las indulgencias plenarias . . . en las festas movibles y dias que no están fixos. . . .”

•  Medina, Mexico, 7695; Palau 20393.   Contemporary vellum over paste boards; vellum rodent gnawed with loss at fore- and bottom edges exposing underlying boards, vellum consequently a bit loose. Vellum also missing from lower two inches of spine; rear free endpaper and final blank also dined upon. Minor worming to upper inner margins, not touching text. A clean, good copy, and despite attacks on binding — solid.  (34653)

With the Spanish Royal Coat of Arms on BOTH Boards

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•  This volume contains the third printing of the Siglo de oro and the second of the Grandeza mexicana. The author was born in Spain in 1568 and at two years of age moved with his family to Mexico, where he passed his youth, was educated, and held his earliest posts; in 1607 he returned to Spain for his doctoral studies. He held various ecclesiastical posts, and in 1622 was appointed the bishop of Puerto Rico.

The Grandeza was Balbuena's first published work, appearing from the Ocharte press in Mexico in 1604. A descriptive epic poem about Mexico City at the close of the 16th century, paying homage to its external material aspects and to its spiritual, political, and social ones as well, it is a major work of Novohispanic literature. The Siglo de Oro was the author's second published work; it first appeared in Madrid in 1608 and is composed of a series of 12 eclogues.

Binding:  Contemporary acid-stained sheep (Valencia style) in hues of green and brown, covers with a gilt roll border and a center device of the Spanish royal coat of arms, spine gilt extra.

•  Palau 22339; Simón Díaz 2286; Maggs, Spanish Books, 71a. On Balbuena, see: Archivo biográfico de España, Portugal e Iberoamérica, fiche 90, frames 7–16.   Bound as above, joints and extremities mildly rubbed. Title-page with spots of pinhole worming, front fly-leaf with one such. Pages clean, portrait handsome.  (38393)

On Private Worship: An Oratory in One's Home

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•  Our author was the “cura mas antiguo del Sagrario de [Sevilla], examinador Synodal de su arzobispado, comisario y revisor de libros del Santo Oficio, academico numerario,” and the “censor de dicha Real Academia.” His work was first read before the Real Academia on 25 October 1771 but because of delays in obtaining the necessary licenses to print it, publication was delayed until 1777.

In this work of canon law and Catholic Church customs and practices, Baquero studies the privilege that the Bull of the Holy Crusade granted the Spanish nation regarding oratories in private residences; it applied not only to Spain but to colonies as well.

The first of three, this edition was published by “un amigo del author.” The other editions appeared in 1781 AND 1861.

Only one U.S. library reports ownership of either the 1777 or 1781 edition. It should be noted that there is NO 1771 edition, despite Palau and online cataloguing; cataloguers have simply failed to look at the last page of the supposed 1771 edition to see that the colophon is dated 1777.

This offers one very pretty large initial and some modestly nice work with type ornaments.

•  Palau 23499 (giving wrong date of publication).   Contemporary limp vellum, a bit missing from back cover; evidence of ties, and binding with light dust-soiling. Lacking rear free endpaper. A clean, nice copy.  (29596)

Adventures of Euphormio —First English-Language Appearance

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•  Golden Cockerel edition: Early 17th-century picaresque “satire upon the wickedness of the world.” Written by a Scottish Catholic, this is one of the earliest satirical romans à clef. The work appears here in English for the first time, with the translation from the original Latin done by Paul Turner from the 1605 edition.

Designed and produced by Christopher Sandford and printed in Perpetua type on mould-made paper, under the supervision of K.S. Tollit, the volume isillustrated with eight wood-engraved plates and two vignettes by Derrick Harris, with the plate images printed within bright red borders. This is numbered copy 205 of 260 printed.

•  Cock-a-hoop 196.   Publisher's light taupe paper–covered boards with red cloth shelfback, front cover with rooster vignette stamped in red, spine with gilt-stamped title; minor rubbing to spine foot and lower outer corners. A few page edges slightly darkened and one very limited, very faint stain affecting endpapers' lower outer corner at rear, pages otherwise clean.A nice copy of this interesting production.  (37173)

Much! Political Comment

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•  Following his sermon on the Virgin of Guadalupe, the author has provided “notas” on pp. 27 to the end. The notes contain significant political commentary on the differences between politics in the U.S. and Mexico.

•  Grajales & Burrus, Bibliografia guadalupana, 374.   Sewn as issued. Dust-soiled, especially to title-page and edges, with top and bottom edges bent. Overall a good++ copy.  (34681)

The First Jesuit Mission to theMughal Empire

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•  Rodolfo Acquaviva (a.k.a., Ridolfo Aquaviva), nephew of Claudio Acquaviva the fifth Superior General of the Society of Jesus (1581–1615), after his Jesuit novitiate was ordained a priest in 1578 at Lisbon and sailed for India. Arriving in India he taught at the Jesuit school (Saint Paul's College) in Goa, founded by St. Francis Xavier and the site of the first printing press in India. In 1580 the Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great summoned him to his court and thus began Acquaviva's mission to the Mughal empire. His was, in fact, the first Jesuit mission there.

As Prof. Emerita Frances W. Pritchett of Columbia University writes on her great website (http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00islamlinks/ikram/part2_12.html): “Of all the aspects of Akbar's life and reign, few have excited more interest than his attitude toward religion. . . . [H]e built the Ibadat Khana, the House of Worship, which he set apart for religious discussions. Every Friday after the congregational prayers, scholars, dervishes, theologians, and courtiers interested in religious affairs would assemble in the Ibadat Khana and discuss religious subjects in the royal presence.”

It was to these discussions/conversations/debates that Acquaviva was invited. The religions represented were many, the major participants including Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Hindus, Jains, and Zoroastrians.  After several months Acquaviva felt his contributions to the debates insufficient to justify continuing as part of the mission and left the task to fellow Jesuits. On return to Goa his missionary work led him to the Hindu Kshatriyas of Salcette, south of Goa, which proved a fatal decision. Prior to his arrival, the Jesuits with the aid of Portuguese troops had destroyed some temples there; the Cuncolim Revolt of July, 1583, was partially a result of those actions and it was in the revolt that Acquaviva and the four companions alluded to in the title of this work were murdered.

The author of this biography was a major Jesuit historian of the Society's activity in Asia. He was the author of the monumental Istoria della Compagnia di Gesu (1650–1673) in 6 folio volumes, Della vita e dell'istituto di S. Ignatio, fondatore della Compagnia di Gesu (1650), L'Asia (1653), Il Giappone, parte seconda dell'Asia (1660), La Cina, terza parte dell'Asia (1663), L'Inghilterra, parte dell'Europa (1667), L'Italia, prima parte dell'Europa (1673), and biographies of Jesuits Vincenzo Caraffa (1651), Robert Bellarmine (1678), Stanislas Kostka (1678), Francis Borgia (1681), and Niccolo Zucchi (1682). Also of interest are his works on science: Della tensione e della pressione (1677), Del suono, dei tremori armonici, dell'udito (1679), and Del ghiaccio e della coagulatione (1682).

This is the second edition of Bartoli's account of Acquaviva and his mission, following the first of the previous year. Searches of NUC, WorldCat, and COPAC locate just two copies of the 1663 edition, both in the U.S., and similarly only two copies of this 1664 (one in Germany, one at Oxford).

•  DeBacker-Sommervogel, I, 975; Graesse, I, 303 (for first edition and other later editions but not knowing of this second).   Late 18th-century quarter vellum over light boards covered with green paper. Undeciphered 17th-century ownership inscription on title-page. Waterstaining, at times significant, at others barely visible. A sound copy with no worming or tears.  (35200)

Important Account ofThe Augustinian Missionaries in Western Mexico
From the Press of Paula de Benavides 

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•  Diego Basalenque emigrated to New Spain with his parents from Salamanca when he was nine, joined the Augustinian order at the age of fifteen, and professed his religion two years later in Mexico City on 4 February 1594. A man of many talents, he was a teacher, administrator, and historian especially remembered for his skill in languages: He was proficient in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, andseveral Mexican tongues. There is evidence that he authored multiple works on a variety of topics, including mathematics and theology, but only three were published, all posthumously.

Basalenque wrote his Historia de la provincia de San Niçolas de Tolentino de Michoacan in 1644 but left it in manuscript at his death in 1651. Father Salguero, prior of the Augustinian province of MIchoacan in the 1660s and 70s and Basalenque's biographer (Mexico, 1664), saw the work published at the shop ofthe very talented and well-connected widow-printer Paula de Benavides, widow of printer Bernardo Calderon. It is both a chronicle and a prosopographical account of the the Augustinians in Mexico from 1533 to 1643, and is divided into two main chapters: 1533 to 1602 when the province of the province of San Nicolas of Tolentino of Michoacan was created out of the province of The Most Holy Name of Jesus (“Santísimo Nombre de Jesús”), and 1602 to 1643. The facts and dates for events prior to ca. 1590 are mostly recounted from Juan de Grijalva's Crónica de la orden de N.P.S. Augustín en las provincias de la Nueva España, en quatro edades desde el año de 1533 hasta el de 1592 (Mexico, 1624) but those of the 17th-century are wholly Basalenque's. His biographies of the 17th-century Augustinians are extremely valuable as they are based on his having known and lived with them; personality traits are discussed and family history and genealogy are detailed.

The history is printed mainly in roman but with some italic type, in double-column format, with woodcut head- and tailpieces and a type-ornament border on the title-page, which page further offersa woodcut vignette portrait of St. Nicholas of Tolentino. There are errors in foliation: 47 and 48 are duplicated and 133 and 134 are incorrectly numbered 132 and 133.

In this copy opposite the title-page is an added facsimile map of the province taken from an edition of Augustin Lubin's Orbis Augustinianus, sive, Conventuum ordinis eremitarum Augustini chorographica et topographica descriptio; no map was issued with the book originally.

•  Medina, Mexico,1084; Pinelo-Barcia, Epitome, II, Col. 755; Beristain, I, p. 143; Ternaux 902; Andrade 632.   Recased in contemporary limp vellum with slightly yapp edges showing evidence of now-lost ties; rear free endpaper lacking and all edges mottled. Case marks on front pastedown; last leaf torn cleanly and expertly repaired, one leaf with an old limited ink smear that does not impede reading.A clean, very nice copy of a history offering much first-hand reporting, from a significant press and sometime enhanced, by a former owner, by addition of that helpful map! (41363)

“Opera quae exstant”NOT

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•  One of several editions all printed in 1596, all bearing the same title, and all claiming to be “Opera quae exstant,” but differing in significant ways: Some editions are in Greek and Latin; some have as place of printing “Lugduni” and others have no place. The present edition contains only the homilies and is entirely in Greek.

Provenance:  Early 19th-century armorial bookplate of Robert Chambers; manuscript ownership “Ex libris G.R.W.”— William R. Wittingham, fourth Anglican bishop of Baltimore (a Latinophile who used “Guillelmus” for “William”), dated Sept. 22, 1856; later in the diocesan library of Maryland; deaccessioned 2006.

•  VD16 B 727.   Contemporary limp vellum with evidence of ties; slightly yapp edges. Occasional light foxing. 19th-century library stamps on the front free endpaper and title-page. A clean solid copy.  (24432)

With aGreat Engraved Plate

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•  From January 1748 until his death in early July 1765 Manuel Rubio y Salinas served as archbishop of Mexico City, a period that coincided nicely with the rebirth of the Mexican mining industry and the creation of great wealth, new secular and ecclesiastical establishments, and a building boom in the viceregal capital. Rubio and the Church benefitted from the new wealth in significant material ways, but social justice concerns and religious duties were always high on the bishop's list of things requiring his attention, as demonstrated for example inhis leadership in securing the 1754 papal declaration making Our Lady of Guadalupe the patron saint of New Spain.

When Rubio died, the entire viceregal capital turned its energy to commemorating him, much of which is summarized in this volume. It includes a Spanish-language account of the archbishop's last days, his death, and burial (pp. 1–87), followed by Pedro Jose Rodriquez de Arizpe's Latin-language funeral oration (“Maximum occidentis sidus. Ilmus, nempe d. doct. Emmanuel Josephus Rubio, et Salinas . . . In cujus solemni funere quinto idus octobris ann. MDCCLXV, declamabat p. doct. Petrus Josephus Rodriguez, et Arizpe,” pp. 87–112), and ending with Cayetano Antonio de Torres's Spanish-language funeral sermon (pp. 115–51).

The Spanish-language account of the burial includesa detailed description of the funeral monument (i.e., cenotaph) that the city erected for the archbishop, including the inscriptions and epigrams that were by F.J. Alegre. Following the last page of the text, there isa large folding engraved plate by Manuel Villavicencio after the design of the monument by Miguel Cabrera, “pintor americano.” The engraving is detailed, exquisite, and includes a measure of scale.

A good source for the study of Mexican colonial architecture, commemorative ceremonies, and treatment of and thinking about death.

•  Palau 6584; Medina, Mexico, 5067; DeBacker-Sommervogel, I, 153.   Contemporary vellum with remnants of ties; spine damaged with loss to hungry rodents not affecting paper. Two short tears in margin of folding plate, well away from image. A very clean, very good copy.  (36410)

Celebrating the Pope's Visit to Bologna — Illustrations by Guido Reni

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•  Uncommon festival book commemoration of Pope Clement VIII's ceremonial entrance into Bologna in 1598, depicting the arches and other architectural features designed by the celebrated painter Guido Reni for the pope's visit. The five full-page images were copper-engraved from Reni's vividly rendered sketches of his own designs, with an additional vignette of the arms of Bologna on the title-page and Benacci's printer's device on the final page. Complete copies of this work are seldom encountered and, while the present example is lacking signature C (including four plates), it still offers five lively, engaging views of significant architectural, artistic, and Catholic interest. This is the second edition, following the first of the previous year.

Evidence of readership: Six pages towards the end of the work bear marginal notes in early, neatly inked Italian.

Provenance:  From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Brunet, I, 768 (for 1598 ed.); Cicognara, I, 1402 (for 1598 ed.); EDIT16 CNCE 5106; Mortimer, Italian 16th Century Books, 50.   18th-century mottled calf, framed and panelled in blind with blind-tooled corner fleurons, spine with gilt-stamped title and board edges with blind roll; leather almost entirely sueded. Later endpapers (watermarked “Chantry”). Lacking one signature and four plates, including one folding. Last few leaves annotated as above, some notes shaved. Imperfect and so priced; still, both attractive and worthy of study.  (37836)

(CATHOLIC) BIBLES ORDERED BY DATE

HEAVILY ANNOTATED — The Gospels & Acts in an Important Edition

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•  An interleaved and heavily annotated copy of the Gospels and Acts of “Beza's third major edition [of the Greek New Testament]. The text follows that of the second major edition (1582) with only five exceptions” (Darlow and Moule). One should note that the title-page proclaims this “quarta editio,” and that this is Estienne's third folio printing of Beza's N.T.

Beza's New Testament Greek text is here accompanied by his Latin and theVULGATE (i.e., Catholic Latin) translations, the trio appearing in parallel columns on each page withextensive notes that often fill as much as one-third to one-half of a page and with parallel references additionally set in the margins. The volume's title-page is printed in red and black and bears Henri Estienne's printer's device; a different finely wrought woodcut headpiece opens each book, with each column on those pages bearing a woodcut initial at its head, and a few of the books of the N.T. end with woodcut tailpieces.

Evidence of readership: An interleaved copy withthe vast majority of the leaves bearing an early 19th-century reader's notes and annotations. The notes cite references published as late as 1809 and it is clear that the natively German-speaking scholar was comfortable in Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and English.

Provenance:  Ownership signature on title-page of Leon St. Vincent. Later in The Howell Bible Collection, Pacific School of Religion (properly released; no markings).

The paper stock used for the interleaving has the classic ProPatria watermark and that and its countermark match Churchill's 151, which has a starting date of 1799.

•  Darlow & Moule 4650; Adams B1711. On the interleaves' watermarks, see: Churchill, Watermarks in paper in Holland, England, France, etc., in the XVII and XVIII centuries.   19th-century half vellum with German pastepaper over boards, spine with tinted and tooled label, text recased and new endpapers; vol. I (only) of this production, without the Epistles and Revelation. Title-page creased and dust-soiled, all leaves before pp. 9/10 rodent-gnawed in lower outside corner with loss of paper but not of text or manuscript annotation, and a bit of light waterstaining to rearmost leaves only. An important edition and a singular copy.  (37032)

A Catholic Bible — The Second Edition, REVISED — Vervliet, 1600

  N.T. English. 1600. Rheims.

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•  The second edition of the Roman Catholic new Testament in English. The translation is the work of a number of English Catholic priests, but principally of Gregory Martin, who fled to France in 1568 because of persecution in their native land, and, under the direction of Dr. (later, Cardinal) William Allen, founded the English College at Douai. (The college moved for a short time to Rheims, but subsequently returned, as the title-page here attests.)


The first edition of this translation was issued at Rheims in 1582, in over-sanguine hopes that its sale would be successful enough to underwrite the cost of a prompt production of the Old Testament. The two-volume O.T. did not appear, however, until 1609/1610.

The second edition of the Rheims N.T. is a revision of the first, not merely a reprinting of it, and contains a “Table of Heretical Corruptions” not found in the 1582 printing and a new preface. In an era of noticeable decline in the art of printing, this Testament enjoys far better than average typography.

•  Darlow & Moule 198; Herbert 258; STC 2989; ESTC S102510.   Late 17th-, early 18th-century English calf, with concentric blind panels on covers in contrasting tones of brown and tan, all edges deep red; covers with scrapes and bumps, rebacked with hinges (inside) strengthened, new endpapers with 1906 owner's inscription on front free one. Title-page dust-soiled and torn in upper margin with some loss of decorative border, page skillfully remargined with blank paper. Some foxing and age-soiling in early leaves; this similarly at rear (starting around p. 640 and most notable in Tables), with also some dust-soiling and with light waterstaining across a good number of upper outer corners. Overall a good to very good copy, sturdy and appealing.  (33612)

The First Catholic Old Testament in English — Once Owned by an “Unfit” Reader?!?
(Rather Unnerving Evidence of Readership)

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•  First edition of the first Catholic Old Testament in English — editio princeps of the Douai (or Douay, or Doway) Old Testament, half of what is commonly known as the Douai–Rheims Bible. The New Testament first appeared at Rheims in 1582; at that time the Old Testament was said to be ready for printing, but its actual publication was delayed until 1609 due to lack of funds. Both portions were translated from the Latin Vulgate mainly by Gregory Martin (with the intensely controversial Old Testament notes done by Thomas Worthington), under the supervision of Cardinal William Allen at Douai, the center of English Catholicism in exile during Elizabeth's reimposition of Protestantism.

This translation is important for all, not just Catholics, as an enduringly influential milestone in Bible history. One of the foundational works in any collection of Bibles and Testaments.

Evidence of Readership / Provenance:  Vol. I front free endpaper with early inked inscription: “Cloister of Nazareth”; pastedown with inscription in a different hand, reading “The holy Bible some pages cut out, (for modesty's sake) thro' ignorance yt. each word hear in [sic] is sacred, & too sacred for such, as finds thmselves unfit to read it.” Vol. II front pastedown inscribed “Men have many faults / Women have but two / Nothing wright thay say / Nothing good they doo” [sic], signed by the Rev. Folkins of Derbyshire, dated MDCCCX; back pastedown with inked inscription of John Caldwell and pencilled inscription of Thomas R. Kilching.

•  Darlow & Moule 231; ESTC S101944; Rumball-Petre, Rare Bibles, 119; STC (rev. ed.) 2207.   Vol. I: Contemporary vellum with yapp edges, spine with early hand-inked title; vellum moderately dust-soiled and worn, spine with remnants of shelving label. Vol. II: Contemporary mottled calf framed in gilt double fillets, spine with gilt rules; rubbed with small cracks in leather overall, especially at joints and spine, very unobtrusively rebacked. Inscriptions and annotations as above, vol. II also with pencilled annotations on front pastedown and bookseller's small ticket on rear pastedown. Sometime after the “immodest” pages (in Genesis) were removed, they were supplied from another copy, tipped in (so one can readily see what they were!); five lacking leaves in vol. II (in appended historical table and index) were supplied in facsimile. Occasional minor foxing and smudging; vol. II with waterstaining to some outer and lower edges, edges of first and last few leaves slightly tattered. A landmark Old Testament, here in an intriguing copy.  (36730)

The First Illustrated Catholic Bible Printed inAMERICA

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•  This first illustrated Catholic Bible printed in America is also only the second printing of the Douai-Rheims Bible in the United States overall, and in its text it differs from the first chiefly in being a reprinting of the Rev. Troy's fifth Dublin (1791) edition, which in its turn was a revision of Dr. Challoner's version. The first American Douai (Philadelphia, 1790) had been taken from the second edition of Challoner's Bible (1763–64).

Both the first and this second American Catholic Bible are rare. Rumball-Petre says of the 1790 edition that “As of the year 1954 only 35 copies this rare Bible have been traced as extant in public and private collections,” but, frankly, that is a very old estimate and there are more copies now known. However, its rarity is real and its demand significant: Copies only occasionally appear at auction and the last one auctioned, in 2016, brought $28,800. Of this second, first illustrated edition, fewer than two dozen American libraries report ownership, as per WorldCat. This is only the second copy that we have ever offered for sale, and we have long specialized in rare Bibles.

There are two issues of this edition: one with 8 plates and 3 maps and the issue offered here with 10 plates (all in the New Testament) and 3 maps. The maps are the same in both issues but only one plate is shared by the two issues.

•  Parsons 271; O'Callaghan 75–76, issue 2 (no priority assigned); Hills 120; Herbert 1481; Rumball-Petre 180; Shaw & Shoemaker 7991; Finotti 34–37; Clarkin 482.   Contemporary sheep, expertly rebacked with old spine label preserved and laid on; new endpapers. Expectable age-toning and less than expectable spotting, with leaves pre-Genesis and a few random others browned; folding frontispiece map with old water- and dampstaining, general title and next few leaves showing this also but in much lower degrees, and last two leaves (“Table”) tattered at edges not approaching text. The plates show the expectable age-toning and show (almost entirely in their margins) the expectable foxing of their age and nature, but the latter does not affect the appeal of the illustrations. This is a decidedly acceptable, presentable, and treasurable copy of a very rare American Catholicum. (41017)

Early ABS Spanish New Testament — A Controversial Translation

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•  This is an early reprint (the 7th edition, the 5th through 9th editions all appearing in 1823) of the 1819 edition of the New Testament in Spanish published by the American Bible Society, which was the first printing in Spanish of any portion of the Bible in the New World. To avoid controversy, and to appeal to Catholics, a translation approved for use in the Catholic Church was employed. This resulted in some criticism from the ABS's Protestant base, but proved a successful strategy toget the Scriptures into the hands of Spanish speakers in the newly independent nations south of the U.S.

•  Darlow & Moule 8495; Shoemaker 11841; not in O'Callaghan; not in O'Callaghan, Supplement,.   Contemporary sheep, spine with gilt rules and tiny remnant of black leather title label; some rubbing and abrasions, spine leather with fine cracks. Waterstaining, sometimes nearly invisible, other times noticeable; scattered foxing and browning throughout. A solid, sound copy of a text that was a bit of a landmark for the ABS.  (35158)

New Testament — “Old Catholic”

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•  Reprinting of Verhulst’s Old Catholic edition of 1717, circulated by the British and Foreign Bible Society. The work is printed in double columns with typographic head- and tailpieces.

•  Darlow and Moule 3369. Contemporary diced calf, spine tooled in blind, with gilt-stamped leather title-label; edges and joints rubbed, sides with minor abrasions, spine sunned. Front pastedown with traces of a now-absent bookplate. Some light foxing, mostly confined to first few leaves. Pp. 5/6 and 7/8 bound in out of order. One leaf with short tear from upper margin, touching a few letters; one leaf with upper outer corner torn away, with loss of two letters. All edges marbled.  (20401)

For other BIBLES & TESTAMENTS,  click here.

The “Expositor of Popery” Explains It All to You — Very, Very Confidently!

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•  Uncommon: Vol. II only of one of the earliest U.S. periodicals dedicated to the American anti-papal “controversy.” The Protestant, which sometimes subtitled itself “the Expositor of Popery,” was a militantly anti-Catholic weekly publication that ran from 1830 through 1832: Offered here are its zealous attacks of 1831 on “the Antichristian Beast, Babylon the great.”

At various times edited by the Rev. George Bourne and by “a select committee, consisting of clergymen of different denominations,” the periodical wasanti-Catholic, abolitionist, pro-education, and prone to extremely single-minded interpretations of foreign and domestic events.

This compilation lacks nos. 29, 30, and 49; and has no. 2 present in two copies.

•  Sabin 66115.   Contemporary quarter tan cloth and paper-covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and paper shelf label; worn and faded, labels rubbed. Front pastedown with institutional bookplates; title-page and one other institutionally pressure-stamped; first text page with inked numeral in lower margin. Pagination erratic in some places; some pages browned; occasional light to moderate foxing or another stain; actually, very good. This publication knew where all the hot buttons were, and week by week it pushed them exuberantly. (26202)

Rime Pietose — De Luca Copy
Interestingly VARIOUS Management of the Woodcuts

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•  First edition: Catholic hymns, translated from Latin into Italian verse by a member of the Clerics Regular of Somasca (variously identified as either Bramiceli or Bramicelli). Many of the hymns open with small illustrations — totaling42 in-text woodcuts— and the title-page features Angelieri's printer's device of an amphora watering a seedling, bearing the motto “A poco a poco.”

The woodcuts are notable not only for the variety of scenes they present but for a certain variety in presentation: Many of the images are presented with their edges visually defined in the normal way, essentially “ruled”; but some are presented as if paintings, within full Renaissance “picture frames” --- with the images themselves, inside, sometimes having their edges normally defined and sometimes floating entirely free. Yet other cuts are given framing at their sides or top and bottom, but not both!

Bramicelli's vernacular renditions were apparently unauthorized; one source claims that the Church ordered the book burned (Tentorio, Saggio storico sullo sviluppo dell'ordine somasco dal 1569 al 1650, p. 178). This may explain why the work is nowscarce, with WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locating only one U.S. institutional holding (Newberry), and only one additional one internationally. EDIT16 gives only ten Italian libraries as holding copies.

Provenance:  From the collection of Don Tommaso De Luca (1752–1829), described by Alexander Roberson as “a priest of the old school . . . possessed of one of the finest libraries in all Northern Italy”; front free endpaper inked with “Exemplare proveniente dalla celebre Collezione de Luca. Veggasi suo Catalogo stampato, alla pag. 101, lin. 29.30" (referring to De Luca's 1816 Catalogo di una pregevole collezione di manoscritti e di libri a stampa delle più ricercate edizioni). Most recently in the library of of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  EDIT16 CNCE 7425. Not in Adams; not in Mortimer; not in Index Aurel.   Contemporary marbled paper–covered limp wrappers, faded and rubbed overall; spine darkened and chipped, front cover with early inked numeral at upper center. Front hinge (inside) cracked, with uppermost of two sewing bands separated from vellum; front free endpaper with early bibliographic note in neatly inked Italian. Light waterstaining to lower outer corners of about 12 ff., scattered minor foxing. A fascinating production. (38978)

For 16TH-CENTURY BOOKS,  click here.
For BOOKS IN ITALIAN,  click here.

TO Part II . . .

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