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223J.  Peter Pázmány; 1570-1637. Peter Paul Rubens;1577-1640.                                                       .          Jean Baptiste Barbé, 1578-1649.   Mikolaj Leczycki; 1574-1652. Cornelis Galle;          1576-1650.

Vita beati P. Ignatii Loiolae Societatis Iesu fundatoris.

Romae [Rome, Italy] : [s.n.], 1609.        $3,800

Quarto 7×5¼inches   This book Consists of 81 copper engravings (including title page and frontispiece)–attributed either to Jean Baptiste Barbé or Cornelis Galle, the elder.  Nineteen drawings for the engravings have been identified as the work of Peter Paul Rubens. Cf. The Rubens engravings of The life of St Ignatius (St Omers Press, 2005), p. 107-108; Diccionario histórico de la Compañia de Jesus, v. 4, p. 3428; Dictionary of art, v. 12, p. 16 (under Cornelis Galle).  Commissioned by the Society of Jesus in 1605/1606 and issued in 1609, the year of Ignatius’ beatification.

Each engraved plate includes a descriptive caption in Latin, attributed to Nicolaus Lancicius (i.e. Mikolaj Leczycki)–and Cardinal Peter Pázmány. Cf. modern edition: Vida de San Ignacio de Loyola en imágenes (Ediciones Mensajero, Bilbao, [1995]).

Beautifully bound in Later vellum with two different large  ornamental  gilt  stamps of St. Benedict, spine lettered on red morocco label in gilt, modern marbled endpapers.    About six pages have suffered worm attacks, but these leafs have been stabilized and  neatly repaired. ( some images at the bottom) 

Nineteen drawings for the engravings have been identified as the work of Peter Paul Rubens. Cf. The Rubens engravings of The life of St Ignatius (St Omers Press, 2005), p. 107-108; Diccionario histórico de la Compañia de Jesus, v. 4, p. 3428; Dictionary of art,v.12, p. 16 (under Cornelis Galle )

First edition of this iconographic biography of St Ignatius Loyola, which was the result of an international collaboration: the two promoters, the Jesuit Nicholas Lancicius (Polish) and Philip Rinaldi, supported by the Hungarian Peter Pázmány who composed the Latin text, it is possible that the images used for the engravings by Jean Baptiste Barb» were drawn by Rubens, at the start of his collaboration with the Jesuits, (although another hypothesis is that they are the work of Cornelis Galle). The author, a skilled Latinist, is particularly known for his history of the JesuitsÌ early ventures to Asia. He refers here to IgnatiusÌs friend, Francis Xavier, and the mission to the East Indies and Japan, which Xavier had embarked upon in 1541

De Backer-Sommervogel,; vol. IV, column 409, no. 13; as well as  Vol XI col 1485 no.17;  Palau 291834 ;(Quaritch Cat. 1226, 132). Cicognara 2139; Thieme-B. XIII, 106; Hollstein VII, 169-249.

Olschki 2516, suggesting the style of the engravings are after Wiericx) “Les excellentes figures represent la vie et miracles du Saint, gravées d’une grande finesse et élégance, avec quelques lignes de text latin, également gravées.”

See : Constructing a saint through images : the 1609 illustrated biography of Ignatius of Loyola / introductory essay by John W. O’Malley ; Latin captions translated by James P.M. Walsh.

Review: “Constructing a Saint Through Images is a facsimile reproduction of the illustrated life of Ignatius of Loyola, Vita beati patris Ignatii Loiolae, published in Rome in 1609 to celebrate his beatification that year by Pope Paul V. The Vita consisted of eighty-one copperplate engravings and was the most elaborate such life produced up to that time. The engraver was Jean-Baptiste Barbe, who enlisted the young Peter Paul Rubens to contribute drawings for the project. The Vita is important for several reasons – the occasion for which it was produced, the influence it had on subsequent Jesuit iconography, the place it held in the Jesuits’ campaign for Ignatius‘ canonization, the role Rubens almost certainly played in its production, and especially for the number and exquisite quality of the engravings. Saint Joseph’s University Press has produced this facsimile edition in honor of the 400th anniversary of the original publication. John W. O’Malley wrote the introduction to the volume, and James P. M. Walsh translated the Latin captions.”–BOOK JACKET.

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Philadelphia : Saint Joseph’s University Press, c2008. 36 p., 79 leaves of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 23 cm. Language: English, Database: MARQCATplus

Subjects: Christian saints — Spain — Biography; Ignatius, of Loyola, Saint, 1491-1556; Ignatius, of Loyola, Saint, 1491-1556 — Art