Stinging attack on the Catholic clergy

[Richter, Joseph, Pseud.:] Obermayr. Bildergalerie klösterlicher Misbräuche[;] eine nöthige Beylage zur Bildergalerie katholischer Misbräuche.

"Frankfurt & Leipzig" [i.e, Vienna, Kurzböck], 1784.

8vo. 262, (2) pp. With engraved frontispiece, title vignette, several headpieces and 20 engraved plates in the Rococo style. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards with giltstamped spine label. Red marbled endpapers.

 1,500.00

Very appealing, complete copy of this famous polemical work by the Austrian writer Joseph Richter (1749-1813), denouncing immoral behaviour in monasteries. "A stinging attack on the Catholic clergy [...] Much sought-after and rare!" (cf. Hayn/G.). The text consists of twenty chapters, each treating a different aspect of monastic life. The author exposes the monks' cavalier attitude to their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, their breach of Lent and the carneval celebrations within the monasteries. Richter also laments the poor state of convent libraries in contrast to the wine cellars and demonstrates the drawbacks of monastic printing offices and pharmacies.

Provenance

A pencil acquisition note, dated 1 October 1819, to flyleaf. From the library of the Viennese collector Werner Habel, with his ownership stamp to flyleaf.

Condition

Slight brownstaining, otherwise well preserved.

References

Wernigg 3520. Hayn/Gotendorf V, 442.

Stock Code: BN#48858 Tags: , , ,