AA.VV - Breviarium Romanum - 1752

THE BREVIARY OF THE COUNTER-REFORMATION, IN THE HISTORICAL PLANTINIAN EDITION
Important specimen of the Pars Aestiva of the Breviarium Romanum printed in Antwerp in 1752 by the celebrated Architypographia Plantiniana, one of the most prestigious typographic workshops in European history. Fruit of the great liturgical reform initiated by the Council of Trent and consolidated under the papacies of Pius V, Clement VIII and Urban VIII, the volume represents one of the fundamental tools of Catholic religious life in the modern age. The specimen preserves the robust contemporary full leather binding on boards, the text printed in red and black, the wide liturgical tables and the characteristic normative apparatus that guaranteed the official use of the Breviary throughout the Catholic world. A genuine testimony of ecclesiastical discipline and the daily spirituality of the European clergy in the eighteenth century.
MARKET VALUE
The individual parts of the Plantinian Breviarium Romanum from the eighteenth century are today less common than complete copies, as many series were progressively dismembered. The presence of the contemporary binding, the liturgical tables, and the provenance from the famous Plantin-Moretus workshop contribute significantly to collecting interest. Comparable copies of the Pars Aestiva generally range between €300 and €700, with higher results for copies that are particularly fresh, complete and well preserved.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Contemporary full dark leather binding on boards, six raised spine ribs, with traces of handling and some edge abrasions. Traces of the original metal clasps on the covers. Frontispiece printed in red and black with an engraved vignette depicting an allegory of the Church and the Apostolic See. Text printed in red and black. Wide liturgical and paschal tables present, engraved plates out of text depicting episodes from the life of Christ and the saints. Drop caps woodcut and typographic ornaments. Pages with natural browning and foxing. In ancient books with a multigenerational history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (4); 32; 644; 224; 8nn; 20; (4).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Breviarium Romanum. Pars Aestiva.
Antverpiae, Ex Architypographia Plantiniana, 1752.
AA.VV.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The Roman Breviary was one of the principal instruments through which the Catholic Church imposed liturgical uniformity after the Council of Trent. The edition promulgated by Pius V in 1568 and subsequently revised by Clement VIII and Urban VIII became the official model for daily prayer for the Latin clergy. The Pars Aestiva gathers the offices of the summer period of the liturgical year, including the long cycle after Easter and numerous saints’ feasts celebrated in the summer months. Beyond its religious value, the volume constitutes an extraordinary testimony to the ecclesiastical material culture of the eighteenth century and to the international diffusion of the official Roman texts.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE PRINTER
The Architypographia Plantiniana represents the continuation of the famous workshop founded by Christophe Plantin in Antwerp in the sixteenth century. Under the Moretus family it became the leading Catholic printing center in Europe, obtaining exclusive privileges for printing Bibles, missals, breviaries and other official ecclesiastical texts. In the eighteenth century the workshop maintained very high quality standards and international prestige, making it one of the main suppliers to the Roman Church.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The Plantinian editions of the Breviarium Romanum were distributed throughout Europe and in mission territories under the Holy See. The seasonal parts were designed for intensive, everyday use, which is why many specimens have survived to us in mediocre or incomplete condition. The red-and-black printing quality, careful layout, and the robustness of the binding reflect the high production standards that made the Plantin press famous for more than two centuries.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Voet, Leon, The Golden Compasses. A History and Evaluation of the Printing and Publishing Activities of the Officina Plantiniana at Antwerp, Amsterdam-London-New York, 1969-1972.
Museum Plantin-Moretus, Catalogus van de Plantijnse drukken.
ICCU / OPAC SBN, eighteenth-century editions of the Breviarium Romanum printed by the Architypographia Plantiniana.
USTC – Universal Short Title Catalogue, plantinian liturgical editions of the eighteenth century.
Catholic Encyclopedia, article "Breviary".
Dictionnaire d'Archéologie Chrétienne et de Liturgie, article "Bréviaire".
De Backer-Sommervogel, Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus, references to Plantinian liturgical productions.
Museum Plantin-Moretus, historical catalogs of ecclesiastical editions of the Moretus family.