WORLDWIDE CATHOLICA

A Modern Sort of Historian Addresses EXCITING EVENTS

•  First printed in 1571, revised and expanded in 1572, then reissued in 1573. La Popelinière is detailed in his recounting of events in France, the Netherlands, and on the high seas involving the French during the tempestuous period 1562–71 when civil and religious wars racked the nation. He was a devoted interviewer and securer of written primary source materials. This edition contains in book 3 "an account of the seizure of a Portuguese ship off the Canaries en route to Brazil in 1570." Five Huguenot privateer vessels seized the Santiago, released most of the passengers, but
murdered Ignacio Azevedo and his fellow
Jesuits (39 in all).

Provenance: Charles Spencer, Third Earl of Sunderland, lot 5204 in the Sunderland Library sale (1882).

•  Alden & Landis, European Americana, 573/28; Brunet, III, 835–36. Not in Adams; not in Borba de Moraes (2nd ed.), Bibliographia brasiliana. Contemporary limp vellum, yapp edges; some waterstaining, with front cover sprung and text block loose at rear hinge, inside. Pressure-stamps of a defunct library. Edges of final leaves tattered, with small loss to index.

Cutting-Edge Biblical Scholarship — With Three Maps

•  Bernard Lamy (1640–1715) was an Oratorian priest, philosopher, and biblical scholar. After getting himself exiled to Grenoble for excessive Cartesianism, he went on to do significant work in biblical studies, and this present work is especially notable: Lamy here contends that Jesus died on the cross on the eve of the Passover (thus at the same time as the Passover lamb was being killed), not during the first day of the Passover. This view, while considered radical at the time, is now generally held by biblical scholars.

This work was first published under the title Harmonia, sive concordia quatuor evangelistarum in 1689. This second edition is printed in small roman types with some italic, Greek, and Hebrew. Ornaments include an ornate woodcut fleur-de-lis on the title-pages, plus initials and headpieces. Vol. II (bound in) consists of the Apparatus chronologicus et geographicus, chronologies and geographical descriptions with three fine fold-out plates: a map of Judea, a plan of Jerusalem, and a plan of the temple.

Provenance: Charles Spencer, Third Earl of Sunderland, lot 7230 in the Sunderland Library sale (1882).

•  On Lamy, see: New Catholic Encyclopedia, VIII, 354–55. 18th-century vellum over boards with raised bands, lightly soiled; on the covers an ornate mandorla inside a composite frame. Crack in the vellum along front joint, joint itself sound. Ex-library with paper labels on spine; old pressure-stamps, including one on title-page of vol. I. Upper outer corner of title-leaf lost taking part of one letter of title; small tear into printed border of first map in vol. II. All edges speckled blue and red. A stout, substantial volume.

The Man Had One of ThoseBreathtakingly Simple Insights . . .

•  Lancellotti (1522–90) was a professor of law in Perugia. His teaching of canon law by arranging it into the same divisions (of persons, things, and actions) as Roman civil law made it much more accessible, and he was invited by Pope Paul IV to produce an Institutes of Canon Law on the model of the Institutes of Justinian, the standard work in Roman civil law. He published the present work, the result of his labors, in 1563; while it failed to attain the same legal status as the Institutes of Justinian, it received wide dissemination, and has had a major impact on the teaching of canon law to this day.

Bound with Lancellotti's work is a summary of titles of chapters of canon law compiled by Thomas Naogeorg (1508–63). Naogeorg's wanderings took him from being a Dominican to being a Lutheran to being a Calvinist. Along the way, during his Lutheran phase, he studied canon law for a year (1551) at Basel, during which time he compiled and published this work, likely as a student's guide. He is better known for his plays, in which he sharply attacks the Papacy.

The two works here were first published by the firm of Guillaume Rouillé, in 1587 and 1588 respectively, and may have been intended to be bound together, as witnessed by the Library of Congress copy. The title-page transcriptions of the earlier editions (except for the date and "hæredes"), and their signatures, pagination, and arrangement, match those of these present 1614 editions. There are italic shouldernotes, and woodcut headpieces and initials.

•  On Lancellotti, see: New Catholic Encyclopedia, VIII, 356. 17th-century calf; covers gilt-ruled; gilt spine. Abraded, corners bumped with leather lost, joints opening—yet this is a perfectly sound volume. All edges speckled brown. Bouquiniste's paper label on front pastedown and front free endpaper lacking. Two words inked long ago in two margins, and one page with old pencilled underlining.

AnEaster Sermon

•  Easter-tide sermon on Christ and the Cross. Larrain eventually rose to be archbishop.

•  Not in Palau. Modern light wrappers, lacking original wrappers. Very good condition.

Rhetoric for the Preacher

•  Luis de Granada (1504–88) was a Dominican friar noted for his theological learning. As is appropriate for a member of the Order of Preachers, he here treats of homiletical rhetoric, giving his readers advice on how to prepare sermons, frame an argument, and adorn their language for the maximum effect. First published in Latin in 1576, this work was translated into French, then into this Spanish version by Bishop José Climent of Barcelona (1770).

•  Palau 108151. Recent neat vellum over light boards, spine lettered in black. Paper cockled with light to moderate waterstaining and small spots of soiling, not impeding legibility. Some marginal chipping with tissue paper repair on front fly- and title-leaf, a few shallow marginal tears elsewhere, and a wormhole in lower inner margin of final 22 leaves and rear fly-leaf; rear fly-leaf with some holing. Overall actually in very good condition.

ALL of His Writings . . . Gathered Together

•  Among Spain’s great Renaissance writers Luis de Granada stands tall, and like Cervantes he enjoyed an international reputation. Unlike those by Cervantes, Fray Luis’s works are firmly in the realm of religious writings and definitely in the field of the Catholic Reformation, yet they enjoyed a wide readership among Protestants, several being translated into English and other European tongues.

Thecomplete works of Fray Luis occupy the first 16 volumes here, with volume 17 being Luis Muñoz’s Vida y virtudes del V.P.M. Fr. Luis de Granada.

Searches of OCLC, RLIN, and NUC Pre-1956 locate only one set of the Obras in the U.S. — at the Sutro library—and that set lacks the volume with Muñoz’s Vida y virtudes del V.P.M. Fr. Luis de Granada.

•  Palau 107337. Contemporary sheep with leather spine labels. Occasional worming to some tops and bottoms of spines with only minimal loss of leather on volumes 1 & 13 only. One title-page lacking. All edges very nicely speckled. An attractive, clean, crisp set of this marvelous Siglo de Oro writer.

Establishment, YES — The Pope, NO!

•  Sole edition of this sermon on the Church of Ireland. Magee, Archbishop of Dublin, here argues against separation of church and state and in favor of an established religion—as long as it is not the religion of Rome.

•  NSTC 2M9335. Recent paper wrappers. Half-title with early inked gift inscription.

HOW to Get toHeaven

•  José Maldonado was a Franciscan priest, a native of Quito in Ecuador, who went in 1618 to Castile. He was afterwards named Commissioner General of the Cismontane Family of the Franciscans (covering Italy, Austria, Hungary, Poland, and the East). El mas escondido retiro del alma or The Most Hidden Retreat of the Soul is a treatise in spiritual theology, discussing how to get to heaven, “by rendering the flesh to the spirit, and the spirit totally to God by means of exercises.” Franciscan theologians commended Maldonado both for his practical experience of prayer and the experience of directing souls that he reveals in this work.
Single-click the image, for an enlargement.

This sole edition is printed in two columns of large type, with a striking engraved title-page signed “Iuan de Noort” and some rather handsome foliate woodcut initials.

Provenance: Bookplate of Stellita Stapleton on front pastedown. In the bottom of †1r is the inscription, “Dela libreria del Convento del Carmen dela Ciudad de Sta. Fe.”

•  Palau 147693; Medina, BHA, 1137. Vellum with remnants of ties; spine and front cover with inked title—the whole cockled, stained, and soiled. Paper repairs and pen trials on pastedowns. Tattering with loss of part of title-page, most of the last two leaves (Oo5–6), and all but a corner of Oo4; light to moderate soiling and staining and light foxing, with many dog ears. Palau records this edition as having one plate, although the RLIN and OCLC records for it list none, and none is present in this copy.

Exact & True?

•  Little is known about Col. Roderick Mansell, except that he was one of the Whig managers of “retribution” for the Popish Plot—i.e., of the “last large-scale persecution of Catholics in England” (NCE), founded upon the supposed attempt by Catholic nobles and clergy to murder Charles II, as reported by Titus Oates (1649–1705). Before Oates’s perjury was publicly discovered, 25 Catholics were judicially murdered, hundreds were incarcerated, and many of the latter died in prison. Like many others, Mansell attempted to cash in on the hysteria generated by the Plot by publishing his version of events, here present in its sole edition. (Much of the rest of this consists of various speakers’ depositions as to the “intrigue”—interesting reading.)

•  ESTC R20941; Wing (rev.) M514. On the Popish Plot, see: New Catholic Encyclopedia, X, 590–94; and the article on Titus Oates in The Dictionary of National Biography, XLI, 296–303. Removed from a nonce volume with remnants of previous binding at “spine” and two fly-leaves from the volume remaining attached also, on the second of which is a list of contents in ink. The leaves of this piece are numbered in ink consecutively on the upper outer corners of the versos. Some staining, foxing, or soiling, and a few shallow tears, with no loss of print. All edges speckled red.

A Mexican Jesuit onSt. Francis Xavier

•  Padre Martínez (1655–1701), a native of Puebla, was a leading Jesuit preacher with a huge following, among whom were a number of wealthy supporters who saw to the costs of having his sermons published as he made them available. St. Francis Xavier’s feast day is 3 December and on that date in 1689 Father Juan preached this sermon on his life and accomplishments.

17th-century Mexican imprints are becoming increasingly rare in the market place. This one has never been common: Searches of NUC Pre-1956, OCLC, and RLIN locate only four copies in the U.S. (New York Public, Bancroft, Lilly, and the John Carter Brown libraries).

•  Medina, Mexico, 1477. Not in Palau; not in DeBacker-Sommervogel. Removed from a nonce volume. Good+ condition.

Lord Save Us — An AttractiveSMALL Broadside

(Medical Prayer).

•  This prayer, in poetic form, is against an unspecified epidemic and is printed on wove paper within an ornamental border, in double-column format with the columns separated by double lines of entwined opening and closing parentheses. An extremely rare ephemerum, it was probably sold outside churches, to the worried devout.

We locate only three copies worldwide.

•  Slightly irregular margins, as issued. Handsome.

Indulgence Included

(Medical Prayers).

•  The bishop of Puebla grants an indulgence of 40 days to those who say these prayers in supplication of the aid of San Roque against an epidemic.

•  Medina, Puebla, 1567. Recent plain wrappers.

Mercedarians in Lima — 1804

•  St. Peter Nolasco (ca. 1182–1249 or 1256) founded the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary for the Ransom of Captives (or Mercedarians) in 1218; quickly successful in its work of redeeming Christian prisoners, it also undertook other charitable work. A third “Mercedarian” order was founded in 1260 for lay male and female supporters and assistants, and the first Mercedarian convent was established in Lima in 1535, the year of the Spanish founding of the city, where the religious were noted for their work among natives.

This document gives the rules, constitutions, privileges, and indulgences of the third order in Lima on the occasion of its reestablishment at the conventual church of St. Michael. A fine woodcut of the arms of the Mercedarian order, surrounded by a typographic border, graces the verso of the title-leaf.

This is the first edition of the Breve compendio; it was reprinted in 1870.

•  Medina, Lima, 1945. Limp vellum lightly cockled and a little stained/soiled, with small hole to front cover from a defect in the skin; traces of adhesive on covers and a small paper label on front one. One small wormhole piercing margin of some leaves; traces of soiling and very light waterstaining. Library bookplate and personal rubber-stamp on front pastedown; old call number neatly penned (and crossed out) on title-page verso.

Censoring the Mexican Clergy

•  This ministerial order is a copy of the message from the Secretario de Estado y del Despacho of 10 June 1813 from Cadiz, forwarded to the viceroy of New Spain by Juan O'Donoju four days later. It reminds the clergy of Spain and Spanish America that Law 7, Title 8, Book 1 of the Novísima recopilación de leyes de Indias calls for obedience to the king, and that any clergyman who "dares utter insulting or ugly words against the King or royal persons or against the state or government, shall be arrested and bound over to royal authority." Churchmen had been outspokenly critical of the Royalist government at Cadiz, and even the example of the executed Hidalgo did not deter the clerics in their quest for change.

This decree was printed in Mexico City and is dated in text 12 January 1814.

This copy printed on blue paper.

Uncommon: NUC locates only two copies (at the Bancroft and the John Carter Brown libraries).

•  Garritz, Impresos novohispanos, 1917; not in Harper, Americana Iberica.

Mexicana, from "contact" to Independence, is one of our specialties.
The full MEXICANA file presents additional items of that Catholic era
not shown here — to browse, click here.

By the"English Athanasius" 
[AMERICAN CATHOLIC PROVENANCE]

Milner, John.

•  The first American edition; the true first appeared in Winchester, England, in 1800. The work traces the history of Catholics in England from the time of Henry VIII to the end of the 18th century. The final section addresses the question of Hoadlyism.

With a substantial list of American subscribers, at the back, and advertisements for Dornin's "Catholic Library."

The sobriquet of our caption was applied to Milner by Cardinal Newman (DNB).

Provenance: Bookplate of the "Rev. Charles I[gnatius] White" (1807–78), a respected editor and "one of the outstanding literary figures in the American [Catholic] priesthood" (Guilday, DAB). While rector of St. Matthew's Church in Washington, D.C., he founded among other things "a chapel for colored persons, and a home for aged negroes."

•  Parsons 373; Shaw & Shoemaker 20743. On Milner, see: Dictionary of National Biography, XXXVIII, 13–17; Newman quoted p. 15. On White, see: Dictionary of American Biography, XX, 94–95. Contemporary sheep, chipped and with covers off; now in a simple acid-free phase box. Ex-Georgetown with stamps; call number in ink at base of title-page; last leaf with long closed tear (without loss).

Catholic Bible Studies  

•  First American edition. The author was a bishop in England and leader of the Catholic Emancipation movement.

•  Parsons 655; Shoemaker 2272. Treed sheep, red spine label, gilt ruling on spine. Edges rubbed and abraded; joints open with front cover nearly off; dog-eared. Ex-Georgetown, with stamps.

Milner, John. A brief summary of the history and doctrine of the Holy Scriptures. Philadelphia: Eugene Cummiskey, 1821. 8vo. [1] f., 278 pp.
$155.00

•  Second American edition (the first, above, was 1820).

•  Parsons 680; Shoemaker 6058. Treed sheep, red spine-label; gilt ruling on spine. Joints open and covers going; edges rubbed and abraded. Foxed. Georgetown marks in pencil on front free endpaper.

Famous Woman Printer — The “Widow Piferrer”

•  Late edition (first was Burgos, 1615) of a wildly popular and oft-reprinted treatise on religious meditation, spiritual life, prayer, and contemplation of the life of Christ. It was influential even in the English speaking world for it was translated into English in 1617 (A Treatise of Mental Prayer) and again in 1623 (Spiritual Exercises) for the Recusant audience.

The printer of this edition was the famous “Widow Piferrer” who achieved the status of royal printer!

All Spanish-language editions are sparsely held in U.S. collections (only one copy of any given edition reported in NUC Pre-1956, OCLC, and RLIN) and this edition is not located in the U.S. at all.

•  Palau 174424. Contemporary vellum over paste boards with remnants of button and loop closures. Minor worm hole in lower inside margin, touching but not costing letters. Bookplate. A good+ copy.

Uncommon . . .

•  More on the civil miseries of France from the Seigneur du Plessis-Marly. Here he expounds on the Cardinal of Bourbon' s motivations, including the defense of Catholicism, as a rebuttal to the assertions of the Guise faction.

Via OCLC and RLIN we traced only four U.S. copies.

•  Lindsay & Neu 1115. Taped into old-style cardboard library binding; previously disbound from a nonce volume, with new pagination inked in an early hand. Title-page and three others pressure-stamped. LESS damaged by its library handling than many items "bound" thus.

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