The Lives and Deeds of the Popes: With more than 1,000 illuminated coats of arms, bound for Pope Clement VIII, from the library of the Earl of Rosebery

Chacón, Alfonso. Vitae et gesta summorum Pontificium a Christo Domino usque ad Clementem VIII. necon S. R. E. Cardinalium cum eorundem insignibus.

€ 75,000.00

The famous principal work of the Spanish Dominican Alfonso Chacón in its almost unobtainable first edition, bound and splendidly illuminated as the personal dedication copy of Pope Clement VIII. The elaborately decorated bindings bear Clement's coloured and finely ornamented coat of arms, which is repeated on the coloured fore-edges; the magnificent illumination gives evidence of the impressive heraldic knowledge necessary to correctly colour the more than one thousand armorial devices of the popes and cardinals. The wealth of illustrations, some almost microscopic in size, are individually hand-painted in colours, gilt and silver throughout the nearly 1,300 pages; many are also cleverly shaded to create a spatial impression. The precious bindings alone would form fine companion pieces to the "Legature Papali" exhibited by the Vatican Library in 1977: although even the specimens once owned by Clement VIII (nos. 148-168 in the catalogue) vary widely in appeareance, our decoration is fairly similar to that of a gradual printed in 1599 (likewise a dedication copy) in its highly mannered use of classical stamp designs.

Chacón's seminal work, designed in celebration of the jubilee year of 1600, provides an account of the lives and deeds of all Vicars of God on Earth, from Christ to Clement VIII himself. After Sixtus V had died in 1590, three more popes passed away within less than two years, after which the papacy of Clement, beginning in 1592, introduced a new era of stability. Clement's rule marks one of the most significant periods of Catholic reform: in the 1595 Union of Brest he achieved an agreement with the Orthodox Church, nourishing hopes of an end to the Great Schism, and the Church owes him revised editions of fundamental works of faith, including the Vulgate, the Roman breviary, missal, ceremonial, and pontifical. Less appealingly, he is responsible for the verdict of heresy against Giordano Bruno, whose execution coincided with the 1600 jubilee.

The antiquarian Alfonso Chacón (1530-99), a pioneer of Christian archaeology and catacomb research, died before he was able to complete his monumental publication; it was ultimately seen through the press by Francisco de Cabrera Morales and Chacón's like-named nephew in 1601. Although a half-dozen libraries hold copies of the first volume in its earliest state as here, already printed in 1598 (OCLC notes examples in Bern, Fribourg, Geneva, Valencia, Poitiers, and Mexico City), the work is referred to by all bibliographers as one of the 17th century.

After Pope Clement VIII, a succession of famous bibliophiles owned this copy: a little more than a century after the pope's death, it was acquired by the British courtier Sir Andrew Fountaine (1676-1753), who spent the years 1714-18 in France and Italy (cf. De Ricci 42), and in whose handsome collection it remained until the late 19th century. Subsequently, it was purchased by Archibald Philip Primrose, the 5th Earl of Rosebery (1847-1929), sometime British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister. In the 20th century it was owned by the American lawyer, journalist and politician John Francis Neylan (1885-1960), and later by the French writer and diplomat Roger Peyrefitte (1907-2000): all politically-minded men who undoubtedly appreciated not only the bibliophilic aspect of this splendid set, but also its representational ecclesio-political character, marking the apotheosis of the cinquecento.