C. A. Dralli. - La trasformatione dell'huom - 1676

Transformation of man, or rather a most efficacious means for the reform of the inner man, proposed to devout souls by Father Carlo Andrea Dralli of the Company of Jesus, dedicated to Father Gio. Paolo Oliua, general superior of the same Company. In Milan: for the heirs of Filippo Ghisolfi, 1676. Pp. (8), 356; cm. 22 x 16,5. Contemporary binding in full parchment with title handwritten on the spine. Damage to the lower spine and other signs of time. Natural foxing not heavy. Coat of arms of the Jesuits at the frontispiece: initial cap and woodcut headings. Unique edition, original. Not a common work by the Jesuit Carlo Andrea Dralli (1624 – 1701), in many respects a typical example of the intransigence of the Jesuits of the era. It deals with the conduct of priests, their spirituality, the religious world that does not seek compromises and the secular world in the face of sin. Interesting and in some respects curious passages, such as the one in which it treats of the Flagellation, or the assertion that according to Saint Gertrude, Christ suffered “five thousand four hundred seventy” blows with “thorny whips, knotted rods, chains of iron armed with hooks.”