Saverio Vanalesti - Discorsi per le Novene - 1752

Discourses for the novenas of Father Saverio Vanalesti of the Society of Jesus, published in Venice in 1752 by the publisher Giambatista Pasquali. The volume presents itself in an original parchment binding, which bears on the spine the title of the work and on the cover evident signs of time, including autograph notes, numerical tallies, and a signature dating to 1825 attributed to a certain Giuseppe Dente, attesting to the book’s lived experience and private circulation during the nineteenth century. The content of the text is structured to offer spiritual supports and meditative series of discourses dedicated to various liturgical occasions, among which stand out the Novena for Holy Christmas, the Novena of St. Ignatius, the one in honor of St. Francis Xavier, and the Novena for preparation for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, each divided into nine parts. The prose style reflects the typical sacred rhetoric of the eighteenth century, interwoven with Latin quotations and invitations to moral reflection, enriched by printed iconographic apparatus that functions as a close for the individual discourses. Bibliographically, it is a Venetian edition of 1752, author Saverio Vanalesti, printed with the license of the superiors and privilege, distinguished by its compact format and by the owners’ handwritten additions that, over time, personalized the copy, making it a unique testimony of domestic devotion. In octavo, pp. 292; parchment, contemporary. Good condition of preservation.