Exempla, in Septem Capitalium Vitiorum Detestationem, per Quadragesimam, An. 1646. narrata.
8vo. (8) ff, 381 pp, (14) ff, with engraved vignette on title and 7 engraved vignettes at each chapter heading, signed by W. F. Kilian. Bound in 18th century armorial calf, evidently a prize binding with a presentation inscription dated 1785 on flyleaf. Covers stamped with the large crest within gilt borders, fleurons stamped in corners, “Bene meritis” stamped on back cover, raised bands on gilt spine with gilt title label, all edges gilt. 18th c. inscription and raised embossed stamp on front fly. Repair to tear in lower margin of title, grazing two letters but without loss. Pages clean and fresh, an excellent copy. Rare first and sole edition of this illustrated emblematic devotional guide to ward against the Seven Deadly or “Capital” Sins: pride, avarice, lust , envy, gluttony, anger and sloth. Each features a finely engraved didactic image by Wolfgang Kilian on which the reader is to meditate, accompanying a Latin text by the Jesuit Georg Stengel. Intended as sermons to be read during Lent, with 1 section devoted to each of its 6 Sundays, plus the Sunday preceding Ash Wednesday. The iconography is fairly straightforward emblematic: classical motifs such as the title cut showing Hercules slaying the (again) seven headed Hydra, or Biblical incidents such as Eve eating the apple while Cain kills Abel (anger). The text considers historical examples of the sin under scrutiny; the range of learning and authors is typically vast and undisciplined, ranging from the Bible, Church Fathers and Classics to extremely obscure Jesuits such as the Irish Jesuit convert Henry Fitzsimon or the Faculty of Jesuits schools in the Low Countries. Georg Stengel (1584-1651) was active at the Jesuit academies of Augsburg, Ingolstadt, and Munich, writing on subjects ranging from natural monstrosities to the presence of the devil in human affairs. Along with his brother Lucas, Wolfgang Kilian formed the first generation of this celebrated engraving dynasty. He was frequently commissioned to illustrate Jesuit works, including a Life of St. Ignatius Loyola (Augsburg, 1622). * VD17 12:104279B; not in Praz, who lists several other titles or Landwehr (ditto); De Backer Somnmervogel VII.1556.77. OCLC lists: Cornell, USF, Northwestern & Urbana.
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