WORLDWIDE CATHOLICA

Catholic Bible Studies  

•  First American edition. The author was a bishop in England and leader of the Catholic Emancipation movement. Click the interior image for an enlargement.

•  Parsons 655; Shoemaker 2272. Treed sheep, red spine label, gilt ruling on spine. Edges rubbed and abraded, refurbished; front joint and hinge expertly reinforced; now nice. Ex-Georgetown University with stamps on title-page; some old dog-ears and spots.

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.

The FIRST ENTIRELY ENGRAVED Book
Printed inthe AMERICAS

Click the interior images for enlargements.

•  With this work Montes de Oca secured for himself the position of the most important and talented engraver in the New World at the beginning of the 19th century. He conceived andself-published this, the first entirely engraved book printed in the Americas.  In a series of 30 plates with captions he told the biography of St. Philip of Jesus (1572–97), the protomartyr of Japan.

This is a rare book with only nine U.S. libraries reporting ownership: Several of those copies are lacking either one, two, or three of the plates, and it is certain that the book was issued unbound, as a gathering of 31 individual leaves, thus accounting for copies with less than the “requisite” engraved title and 30 plates. This copy in fact confirms that the plates spent part of their lives unbound, as two of them are touched by small instances of worming that have not touched their next neighbors!

Montes de Oca's plates are particularly detailed and moving when they show the saint in Japan being abused and tortured, but all are strong and striking.

Uncut.

•  Palau 363045.   Late 19th-century plain sheep binding. Uncut; lacking two plates and two with minor worming as noted above; all plates well impressed, as would be expected of a work that the artist himself saw through the press! A very good copy of a scarce and important work.  (25095)

The First Rules of theFirst New World Cathedral Choir — SCARCE

Click the image for an enlargement.

•  Archbishop Montúfar wrote these rules of proper conduct of the Choir of the Cathedral of Mexico in 1570: No talking in the choir, no disrespect, pay attention, always behave with dignity and devotion, and remember why one is in the cathedral Choir. The document circulated only in manuscript until 1797, when it was printed for the first time — in Latin, as part of a larger work. This is the first separate printing and the first in Spanish.

Scarce: We trace only 5 copies in U.S. libraries. The work begins with a fabulous full-page engraving of the Virgin of Guadalupe that also incorporates the coat of arms of Mexico.

•  Medina, Mexico, 9609. Not Grajales & Burrus.   Plain wrappers as issued. A good+ copy.  (19474)

His “Travels” Here Are throughTime & Texts

•  First U.S. edition, following the London first of the same year, of a controversial defense of Catholicism from the author of the enduringly popular Lalla Rookh and other poems. This eclectic theological treatise is arranged as a chronological examination of the history of Christianity, conducted by the titular Irishman who tries (rather, “tries”) but fails to find a convincing reason to convert from the Roman Catholic to the Protestant Church.

•  American Imprints (1833) 20211; NSTC 2M35483.   Publisher's brown cloth, spine with printed paper label; cloth faded and discolored, spine label rubbed. Front free endpaper with faint pencilled ownership inscription dated 1856. Light to moderate foxing throughout. (20642)

BUILDER of the FIRSTNew World Utopian Community

Click the interior images for enlargements.

•  In the 18th century Mexico saw a birth of great biographical writing focusing on important figures in its history, especially its ecclesiastical history. Vasco de Quiroga (1470–1565) was an imposing and perhaps quixotic figure during the early post-Conquest decades. A learned man, he arrived in Mexico in 1531 as one of the first four judges of the high court (i.e., oidores) and became the first bishop of the far western province of Michoacan. In that “out of the way” region of Mexico he devoted himself to establishing European culture, ensuring fair treatment of the indigenous population, creating towns and cities, and building the first utopian community in the New World.

Not the least of his accomplishments was the creation of two pueblo-hospitals for native Americans, and appended and integral to this biography are his “Reglas, y ordenanzas para el gobierno de los Hospitales de Santa Fé de México, y Michoacàn,” which occupy the final 29 pages.

Historians still consider this to be the definitive biography of Quiroga. The engraved portrait of him, handsome and from the burin of José Morales, adds a face to the words of the biographer and to the account of the deeds of the biographee.

•  Medina, Mexico, 5099; Wellcome, Medical Americana, M.134; Palau 181902; Beristain, III, 2059.   Contemporary limp vellum lacking ties. A very good copy.  (23061)

Enlightenment Catholicism

•  Ludovico Antonio Muratori (1672–1750) was a priest active in parish ministry, librarian to the Duke of Modena, and a brilliant scholar in many fields, best noted for his discovery of the oldest known canon, or list of books, of the New Testament (now known as the Muratorian Canon). In this work on the public good and the role of rulers in achieving it, he covers all aspects of human society, from politics to agriculture, exhibiting the combination of deep orthodox Christian faith and respect for freedom of science and scholarship that made him the chief representative of 18th-century “enlightened Catholicism.” First published 1749, this is the second edition. Click the interior image for an enlargement.

•  Goldsmith’s Kress 8390. On Muratori, see: New Catholic Encyclopedia, X, 81. Contemporary vellum over paste boards with remnants of gilt label on spine; soiled, stained, and chipped with loss of top layer of vellum on rear cover and part of spine. Interior with light foxing, water- and other staining. Far from splendid, far from dead. (11592)

Marriage Law from aNoted Mysogynist . . .

Nevizzano, Giovanni.

•  Legal treatise in civil (i.e., Roman) and canon law on marriage, family, and inheritance, “with remedies to settle the parties of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines.” A good page-plus of the extensive small-print index references “mulieres” (most references being not too friendly); the work concludes with a 6-page poem. Click the interior image for enlargement.

•  Not in Adams.   Contemporary vellum with yapp edges and remnants of ties, spine with inked title: spots of staining, light soiling, and (on spine) traces of a paper label. Lightly age-toned with occasional light soiling. Early inked notations on front pastedown and title-page. Inked call number on title-page.  (11869)

An Attractive Set

•  First edition: Sermons by the Archbishop of Mexico (from 1772–1800) and interim Viceroy of New Spain (in 1787), a man famed for his eloquence. The three volumes contain “Que comprende los sermones morales”; “Sermones panegiricos, y platicas espirituales”; and “Cartas pastorales.” Single-click any image where the hand appears on
mouse-over, for an enlargement.

•  Palau 197255; Medina, Biblioteca Hispano-Americana, 6093. Contemporary treed sheep, spines with gilt-stamped leather title-labels and gilt-stamped decorations and volume numbers; corners and extremities slightly rubbed, boards with some scuffs and scrapes. Title-pages with decorative “BR” monogram stamp. Moderate offsetting to a number of pages in vol. I and a few in vol. II; occasional light spotting throughout. All edges speckled.

TO Part XV . . .

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