MASINI Eliseo - SACRO ARSENALE Ouero PRATTICA...

MASINI, Eliseo. Sacred Arsenal, or Practice of the Office of the Holy Inquisition. Newly corrected and expanded. Genoa and Perugia, at the Camerale Press, under Sebastiano Zecchini, 1653. In-4° (about 21 × 16 cm), [8], 432, [24] pages, with an engraver's vignette depicting Saint Anthony of Padua at the title page, drop caps and woodcut ornaments in the text. Edited and expanded edition of the famous manual of inquisitorial procedure written by the Dominican Eliseo Masini, inquisitor in Genoa between 1609 and 1627. Specialized bibliography identifies this as the third edition of the work. The work constitutes a significant testimony of the Holy Office’s judicial practice in 17th-century Italy, illustrating procedures, interrogations, testimonies, and the various stages of the inquisitorial process. Particularly notable is the chapter devoted to the methods of interrogating defendants under torture, as well as the section relating to proceedings against polygamists and witches. Contemporary binding in stiff parchment, with a trace of a manuscript title on the spine. The volume shows evident signs of time, with yellowing and browning of the paper, scattered stains and foxing, traces of use and some marginal imperfections, coherent with the age of the artifact. There are also ancient handwritten annotations visible near the title page and on some leaves. A copy of notable historical and bibliographical interest, belonging to a rare type of manuals relating to the activities of the Holy Office. Antiquarian bibliography emphasizes the rarity of the work and notes that several editions of the Sacro Arsenale were destroyed by order of the Holy Office itself. Bibliographic references: Caillet, no. 7203; Vinciana, no. 1279. State of conservation Fair / good for its age, with normal and widespread signs of secular conservation. Soiled and stained parchment, browning papers with stains and foxing; ancient handwritten annotations present and some marginal imperfections. Note for the catalog It is a volume of particular interest not only for its antiquity, but also for its extremely particular historical content, being a true operational manual of the Roman Inquisition in the 17th century. A copy of the same edition has recently been offered by a specialized antiquarian bookseller at €1,800, while another copy of the same edition was sold by Bolaffi Auctions for €850. Short title for the auction: MASINI ELISEO – Sacred Arsenal, or Practice of the Office of the Holy Inquisition. Genoa and Perugia, 1653. Rare seventeenth-century edition in contemporaneous parchment. THE BOOKS WERE DISPLAYED AT THE VENICE SECRET EXHIBITION AT PALAZZO ZAGURI IN VENICE

Estimate:£586.31

View all items fromCatawikiorBooks, Maps & Manuscripts