Description
[Petrus Comestor] Sarnelli, Pompeo. LEZIONI SCRITTURALI ALLA MENTE, ED AL CUORE, SOPRA L’UNO, E L’ALTRO TESTAMENTO, SECONDO LE INTERPRETATZIONI DE CELEBRE PIETRO COMESTORE MAESTRO DEL STORIA SCOLASTICA. Antonio Bortoli, Venezia: 1705.
First edition, two volumes bound in one book, (33.5 cm X 23 cm), collation: Vol. I [iv, ii, x, i; 526]; [ii, vi, 303, 1 blank.] [viii; a6; (A-I)8; (K-T)8; (V-Y)8; (Z1-8), Z4 signed Z5; (Aa-Ff)8; (Gg)12; (Hh)8; (Ii)6; (Kk)6] Note: Aa1 signed as A2; and, Cc2 signed as Cc3. Vol.II [a4; (A-I)8; (K-P)8; (Q)6; (R-S)8; T10]
Title page of Volume I in red and black letters and decorated with the arms of Cardinal Vincenzo Maria Orsini. Two-column text. Woodcut head and tail pieces, historiated capitals, 162 sixteenth century woodcut miniatures throughout: 89 in the Old Testament and 73 in the New Testament, and 43 bear the monogram “G.R.” Many of the images are recognized as from the Lyon workshop of Jean de Tournes, probably the work of Guillaume Rovillé, Georges Reverdy, and Bernard Salomon.
First edition in Italian, a translation of the HISTORIA SCHOLASTICA by Petrus Comestor, the standard work on Biblical History for the Middle Ages, done by Sarnelli at the behest of Cardinal Orsini, elected Pope Benedict XIII in 1724. Sarnelli worked on this huge project from 1688-1702. There was an earthquake as he began and another the year he finished. Graesse lists six works of Sarnelli, the last being LEZIONI SCRITTURALI. Presently bound in white vellum, with gold decoration on the spine, and red and blue leather labels likely saved from an earlier binding. The front cover is scratched at the top but largely bright and has been mended on the lower right-hand corner. The initial blank is missing. The repair appears to have been done after the book was used as a blotter, given tell-tale ink stains and one broken band. The initial pages have been reinforced, a few have a faint damp stain, but most of the pages are extraordinarily bright and clean with sharp woodcut images. Seven surviving print copies not counting this one are recorded: six in Italy and one in Spain.
Petrus Comestor, “Peter the Eater,” was born about 1100 in Troyes and died in Paris in 1179. He was one of the most influential theologians in the Middle Ages. As Dean of the cathedral chapter in Troyes (1145-1164), he wrote smaller exegetical works prior to his magnum opus, HISTORICA SCHOLASTICA, which he penned between 1169 and 1173. From 1164 to 1168, Petrus Comestor was Chancellor of the Cathedral School in Paris. From there, he became a member of the Order of the Regular Canons of St. Victor in Paris, and it was there that he wrote the HISTORIA SCHOLASTICA. Shortly after its completion, it became an established lecture text at the University of Paris.
Bible du Port-Royal Lemaistre de Sacy Isaac 1698
