S. Gregorii Magni - Opera Omnia - 1744

Sancti Gregorii Papæ I
Cognomento Magni,– Opera Omnia
Edizione veneziana del 1744 in 4 volumi; In quatuor tomos divisa.

Important seventeenth-century edition of the complete works of Saint Gregory the Great, printed in Venice in 1744, in 4 volumes in folio (cm 37 × 25.5).

Elegant contemporaneous bindings in full stiff vellum, with manuscript/gilded titles on the spines. Frontispiece engraved, printed in red and black with a rich typographic apparatus and engravings, including the portrait of the author. Text in Latin laid out in two columns, with ornate initials and critical apparatus according to the Roman manuscript codes and the Benedictine tradition.

Pp. [4], XXIII, 11 p., 1664p. [96] c. of plates: portrait; [8] p.,1443, [56] p; XVI p. 884, [24], VIII P., 578 p., [43]; [21, VIII, p. 335, [13], V, [1] p., 964., 121 p.

Overall good copy. Paper slightly browning and sometimes fragile, particularly in the first and last volumes, copy showing signs of use and the passage of time; stains, abrasions to the binding, margins worn and some marginal lacunae in the initial and final leaves (see photo); some pages have the side margin crumbling. Nevertheless, the volume structure remains solid and readable. Normal signs of use and age.

The Opera Omnia collect the entire corpus of Saint Gregory the Great’s writings, including the famous Moralia, the Homiliae, the letters, and other theological and pastoral treatises. The work represents one of the foundational testimonies of medieval theology and spirituality. Gregory the Great’s thought deeply influenced the doctrine, liturgy, and organization of the Latin Church, making this collection an indispensable reference point for Western patristic tradition.

A work of notable interest for the study of patristic theology and biblical exegesis.