Liber orthodoxis omnibus perutilis [et] maximè Monachis, qui Bonu[m] certamen appellatur / editus per Alphonsum ab Orozco Sacri Ordinis Eremitarum Diui Aurelij Augustini ... ; accessit Index copiosissimus capitum, [et] principalium locoru[m] Sacrae Bibliae expositorum in singulis capitulis totius operis.
Hardcover
1562 · Salamanca
by ALONSO DE OROZCO, Saint (15001591)
Salamanca: Juan María de Terranova, 1562. Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo (138 x 92mm). Pagination: [28], 173, [1]). Collation: ¶(8), ¶¶(6), A-K(8), L(7, lacking final blank). Woodcut printers device of Juan María Terranova comprising fleur-de-lis under IHS monogram in cartouche border of putti and masks with motto Nominis tui laboramus sub timore Sanctisimae (We work under the most holy reverence of Your name) on title and register leaf verso. Woodcut chapter initials and printed marginalia throughout. Near contemporary limp vellum; (lacking ties and few stains on vellum; margins shaved close in some areas affecting inscriptions, some marginal stains and back hinge starting; otherwise a neat and compact little work, enhanced by an early readers written interaction). Enthusiastic underscoring and marginalia written in Spanish with an ownership name on the front flyleaf containing probably a religious prefix. The late 16th or early 17th century annotator underlines the printed Latin text and provides a Spanish comment or sometimes a translation in the margins. i.e. underlined Senticosam annotates Espinosa (thorny), Mausoleo annotates Sepulcro (tomb); Tyrannis perempta (destroyed tyrants), annotates muerta (dead).
Rare first edition of the pocket-sized profitable book on ethical subjects, written by Saint Alonso de Orozco for Augustinian monks and evidently poured over by a spiritual devout who analyzed the text in full. This text was reprinted several times into the 19th century, with slight emendations to the title, including Certamen amoris sancti (The Contest of Holy Love) and Certamen Bonum (The Good Struggle); although this first edition title is rarely found. Alonso de Orozco was a Spanish mystic and Augustinian priest, who was beatified by the Catholic Church long after his death in the 19th century. Alonso de Orozco is touted as the most prolific ascetical writer of the Spanish Augustinian Hermits, composing several Latin treatises on a variety of topics including the nature of God, morals, and religious life. This work was written exclusively for the Augustinian brethren so they might make use of the organized information and indices, a sort-of portable finding-aid, which was particularly useful for travelling preachers (like Alonso himself). Salamanca was the seat of a large university in Spain and a great center for intellectual learning and cultural influence during the Spanish Golden Age. OCLC locates only five copies of the first edition, all held in Spanish institutions. (Inventory #: WB16373)
Rare first edition of the pocket-sized profitable book on ethical subjects, written by Saint Alonso de Orozco for Augustinian monks and evidently poured over by a spiritual devout who analyzed the text in full. This text was reprinted several times into the 19th century, with slight emendations to the title, including Certamen amoris sancti (The Contest of Holy Love) and Certamen Bonum (The Good Struggle); although this first edition title is rarely found. Alonso de Orozco was a Spanish mystic and Augustinian priest, who was beatified by the Catholic Church long after his death in the 19th century. Alonso de Orozco is touted as the most prolific ascetical writer of the Spanish Augustinian Hermits, composing several Latin treatises on a variety of topics including the nature of God, morals, and religious life. This work was written exclusively for the Augustinian brethren so they might make use of the organized information and indices, a sort-of portable finding-aid, which was particularly useful for travelling preachers (like Alonso himself). Salamanca was the seat of a large university in Spain and a great center for intellectual learning and cultural influence during the Spanish Golden Age. OCLC locates only five copies of the first edition, all held in Spanish institutions. (Inventory #: WB16373)