Vitae, passionis et mortis Jesu-Christi Domini Nostri, mysteria, piis meditationibus et adspirationibus exposita
Antwerp: Hendrik Aertssens, 1622. First edition. Hardcover. Octavo. [star]8 A-2B8 (=208 leaves). [16], 392, [8]pp., 76 numbered full-page engraved plates. Half-title, engraved title; text within ruled borders; woodcut ornaments. Contemporary vellum, yapp edges; manuscript lettering at spine. Fine copy.
First edition of this collection of meditations on the life of Jesus Christ, each accompanied by a full-page copperplate engraving, judged one of the “principaux livres à figures” for the period 1620-1650 (Funck). The plates were quickly re-edited: a French translation was published later that year by H. Aertssium, and a Dutch version appeared in 1623. Jean Bourgeois (1574-1653) led the Jesuit college at Valenciennes and subsequently at Saint-Omer. This finely engraved suite, with Latin commentaries engraved underneath the pictures, served the didactic purposes of the Society of Jesus in their drive to bring the Roman Catholic religion to the young and uneducated.
References: Bibl. Belgica 1:324 (B5). Brunet 1:1179 “Volume recherché à cause des figures... assez belles”. A. Dinaux, Archives hist. et litt. du Nord de la France et du Midi du Belgique, ser. 2, 2 (1838): 457-460. Funck (under School of Rubens), 248 (for a note on Bolswert); 259; 283. De Backer-Sommervogel 2:34.
Annotations: old note in manuscript at the front pastedown, possibly a library shelf mark. Fine. Item #49124
Price: $750.00