DE CRUCE , LIBRI TRES, AD SACRAM PROFANAMQUE HISTORIAM UTILES. [and] CALIXTUS, GEORGIUS. DE VERA FORMA CRUCIS

Braunschweig [Brunsvigae]: typis Andreas Duncker, impensis Godfridus Müller, 1640. 163 x 95 mm. (6 1/2 x 3 3/4"). 8 p.l., 9-200, [8], 20, [8] pp.
VERY PRETTY RED MOROCCO, GILT, BY CAPÉ (stamp-signed on front turn-in), covers with French fillet border, filigree lozenge centerpiece with centrl oval containg a cross and the motto "In hoc signo vinces" ("By this sign [the cross] you will prevail"), raised bands, spine compartments wtih central filigree lozenge, gilt lettering, densely gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. With printer's device on title page and 24 engravings, two of them full-page, primarily showing the cross as an instrument of torture. USTC 1009871. ◆One leaf with small marginal repair, text lightly pressed at time of binding, two quires faintly mottled, but still a very appealing copy in a lustrous binding with few signs of wear.

Combining macabre illustrations and an elegant binding, this study of crucifixion has a wealth of visual interest. One of the 16th century's most eminent scholars, Justus Lipsius (1547-1606) was a classicist and historian specializing in ancient Rome and a writer famous for his elegant Latin style. Educated at the universities of Cologne and Louvain, he was a prolific writer, regularly penning at least one book per year. His commentaries and other editorial work on Seneca, Tacitus, Plautus, and Propertius represent substantial contributions to classical scholarship. Here, he examines the use of the cross, in all its variations, as an intrument of torture and execution in antiquity. The grisly engravings illustrate all the ingenious ways the ancients devised to inflict pain with crosses. First printed in 1593, "De Cruce" was produced after Lipsuis had spent several years in Lutheran territory and needed to demonstrate his commitment to Catholicism. Ironically, the other work included here, "On the TrUe Cross," is by Georg Calixtus (1586-1656), a Lutheran theologian who dedicated his life to developing a "unified theology" that could reunite all Christians. Our lovely binding is the work of Charles-François Capé (1806-67), one of the most distinguished binders in France in the middle years of the 19th century, and especially well known for the delicacy of his work. He was the binder to the Empress Eugénie, and Béraldi calls him "the Bozérian of the second Empire.".