Uffizio della Beata Vergine Maria, Uffizi de' morti, dello spirito S., della Croce, sette Salmi penitenziali, ed una Raccolta di divote orazioni con gli argomenti de' salmi.

Rome: Stamperia Pagliarini, 1755. First edition thus. New. Octavo (23 cm); 5 parts in one volume, each part with separate title page and pagination. Complicated pagination resolving into 192, 32 (of 33) leaves, lacking final leaf D8*, directions to the binder. Roman and italic types. Title page and first two section titles printed in red and black with repeated engraved vignette of the adoration; third section title printed in black with engraved vignette of death. In all, 4 engraved vignettes and 15 full-page engraved illustrations after the rock stars of the Bolognese school, including Guido Reni, Ludovico Caracci, Guercino, Pietro Facini, Francesco Albani, Baldassare Palaninus, and others. 28 woodcut headpieces, 18 woodcut tailpieces, and 25 woodcut initials (all with some repeats), woodcut initial frames throughout, a few typographic tailpieces and ornaments. Bound in contemporary mottled calf, stamped in gilt on both boards and spine; edges gilt; later large silver (?) hinge clasps and plates. Joints, corners, and spine ends expertly reinforced. Free endleaves apparently lacking. Light scattered foxing, mostly marginal. Provenance: Bookplate of Henry J. Heinz. Reference: Sotheby's Otto Schäffer sale part I, 1994, #133 (calling for only 14 engraved plates).

Splendid "Bolognese School" edition of the Offices of the Virgin, illustrated throughout with full page engravings after the Bolognese masters who emanated from the Caracci studios in the 16th and 17th centuries, and who defined European artistic sensibilities for subsequent generations. This copy bears the bookplate of Henry J. Heinz (1844-1919), the German-American entrepreneur who founded the H. J. Heinz company in Pittsburgh, and who made a fortune in ketchup and other prepared foods.