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Books, Autographs & Prints

Thursday 04 July 2024 e Friday 05 July 2024, 10:30 AM • Rome

219

Baldesano, Guglielmo

The Sacra Historia of S. Mauritio Archduke of the Thebean Legion and his valiant Champions, 1604

Estimate

€ 180 - 250

Sold

€ 232

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Information

Turin, Gio. Domenico Tarino, 1603. In 4°. Woodcut coat of arms of Carlo Emanuele of Savoy on the title page, headpieces, finials and drop caps engraved in wood, some worm holes, light browning, more intense on some issues, some light foxing and small stains, slight defect on the internal hinge, contemporary parchment binding , missing back, defects.


Specialist Notes

Second edition of this text which narrates the life of San Maurizio and the history of the Order founded in 1572 by Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy. This order united the previous orders of Saint Maurice and Saint Lazarus with the aim of defending the Catholic faith against infidels, practicing hospitality and clearing the seas of pirates. The author of the work, according to Melzi and various other bibliographers, is the Jesuit canon Bernardino Rossignoli, who hides behind the pseudonym Guglielmo Baldesano. The tradition regarding the origins of San Magno Tebeo also comes to life from this volume, with the famous sanctuary of San Magno a Castelmagno at its center. The historian Guglielmo Baldesano presents Saint Magnus as a soldier of the legendary Theban legion, commanded by Saint Maurice. According to legend, most of the legion was massacred in 286 at Agauno, in what is now Swiss Valais. Magno, who survived the massacre, went to the mountains of southern Piedmont, where he preached Christianity until his martyrdom and burial in the place where the sanctuary now stands.