Mazzinelli - Settimana Santa - 1803

THE HOLY WEEK IN PIO VII’s ROME: LITURGY, ART, AND DEVOTION IN 1803
ABSTRACT
Elegant Roman edition of 1803 of the Office of Holy Week, monumental liturgical and devotional guide to the rites from Palm Sunday to Easter. The work by Alessandro Mazzinelli unites rubrics in the vernacular, explanations of the ceremonies, liturgical texts, meditations, and the Italian version of Antonio Martini’s Scriptures. Particularly evocative is the figurative apparatus, with sacred images engraved, dedicated to the principal episodes of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection. The frontispiece is printed in red and black and adorned with the image of the Crowned-with-Thorns Christ. A specimen enriched by a refined contemporary full leather binding richly decorated in gold, typical of precious devotional books of the Neoclassical age.

WHY TO BUY
ROMA 1803 – Edition printed in papal Rome by Luigi Perego Salvioni, Vatican and St. Ignatius Printer, during the pontificate of Pius VII.
RICH ILLUSTRATED APPARATUS – The volume is illustrated with full-page engravings dedicated to the fundamental moments of Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to the Resurrection.
LITURGICAL TEXT AND EXPLANATION OF RITES – Not a simple book of prayers: Mazzinelli accompanies the office with rubrics, explanations of ceremonies, observations on mysteries, and devout reflections.
PRESTIGIOUS BINDING – Elegant contemporary full leather with rich Neoclassical decoration impressed in gold on the boards and spine, with liturgical and Passion symbols, a highly attractive item for collectors.

MARKET VALUE
The commercial interest of the specimen lies in the combination of Roman printing, illustrative apparatus, red and black frontispiece, and above all the refined contemporary gold-decorated binding. It is an appealing object for both religious collectors and those interested in bindings and illustrated books from the 17th to the 19th century. For a complete specimen with all the engraving plates in the shown condition, a reasonable antiquarian market range can be indicated at about €300–500.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Frontispiece printed in red and black, at the center of the title page, engraved portrait of Christ crowned with thorns. Text in Italian and Latin, with rubrics, introductions, and explanations of the rites. There are full-page engravings, including, as shown in the photographs, Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem for Palm Sunday and the Resurrection. Contemporary full brown leather binding. Boards framed by elaborate gold borders with corner ornaments and a large central motif stamped in gold. Spine with raised bands decorated in gilt compartments, including symbols and instruments related to the liturgy and the Passion; additional gold decorations at the foot. Front and back guards in decorated paper. Binding with slight abrasions, scuffing, and normal signs of time; gilding still clearly legible. Some pages with browning and physiological foxing, small stains, and signs of use. In old books, with a centuries-long history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing includes AI Visuals. Refer to the original photographs to verify the object’s actual condition. The images are an integral part of the description. Pp. (2); 16; 596; (4).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Office of Holy Week.
Rome, for Luigi Perego Salvioni, Vatican and St. Ignatius Printer, 1803.
Alessandro Mazzinelli.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The Office of Holy Week belongs to the great tradition of books intended to accompany the faithful through the most solemn moment of the Christian liturgical year: the journey from Palm Sunday to the Passion, death, and Resurrection of Christ. The peculiarity of Alessandro Mazzinelli’s work lies in not limiting itself to reproducing liturgical texts. As the title page proclaims, the author adds rubrics in the vernacular, discussions of the Psalms, explanations of ceremonies and mysteries, and devout reflections, allowing the reader to understand the symbolic meaning of the celebrations. The visible index in the exemplar shows the breadth of the program: Palm Sunday, blessing of the Palms, Passion according to Matthew, Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday and Holy Wednesday, Holy Thursday with Matins, Lauds, Mass, procession, Vespers and washing of feet, Good Friday with Passion according to John and adoration of the Cross, Holy Saturday with blessing of fire, candle, and font, then Easter Sunday and subsequent days. Of particular note is the Italian version of Antonio Martini’s Scriptures, Archbishop of Florence, a leading figure in Italian religious culture of the 18th century. His translation of the Bible became one of the most authoritative and widely used Italian Catholic versions in modern times. The engravings also serve a meditative function: they are not mere decorations, but visually introduce the faithful to the main mysteries celebrated. The combination of text, images, and binding thus makes the volume a truly prestigious devotional object.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Alessandro Mazzinelli was an ecclesiastic and author of liturgical and devotional works active in the 18th century. His name is mainly associated with the Office of Holy Week, a work designed to make the complex rites of the Easter liturgy understandable to the faithful through explanations, observations, and meditations. Antonio Martini (1720–1809), Archbishop of Florence, was one of the most important Italian Catholic Bible translators. His Italian version of the Sacred Scriptures, completed in the 18th century and ecclesiastically approved, enjoyed extraordinary diffusion and remained for a long time a fundamental reference in the Italian Catholic world. Luigi Perego Salvioni was active in Rome as a printer and publisher from the late 18th to the early 19th century. The frontispiece of this edition identifies him as “Stampator Vatican and S. Ignazio,” underscoring the institutional prestige of the printing house.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Mazzinelli’s work went through numerous editions in the 18th and 19th centuries, evidence of its fortune as a liturgical and devotional manual for Holy Week. The Roman edition of 1803 sits in a historically significant moment. It was printed during Pius VII’s pontificate, elected in 1800, a few years after the traumatic events of the Roman Republic and the French occupation. The editorial structure combines liturgical tradition, explanatory vernacular text, and religious illustration. The two-color frontispiece and the full-page engravings give the volume a more refined editorial character than typical offices intended solely for daily use. The survival of a specimen in its original decorative binding is particularly meaningful: books of this kind were intended for frequent use during religious services and are thus often preserved in rather poorer condition.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
ICCU – SBN, catalogs of Italian editions by Alessandro Mazzinelli and of the Office of Holy Week.

OPAC SBN, Roman editions by Luigi Perego Salvioni from the early 19th century.

WorldCat, bibliographic records of the various editions of the Office of Holy Week by Alessandro Mazzinelli.

Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, catalogs of Roman liturgical and devotional works.

Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma, repertoires of the Roman printing production from the 18th to the 19th century.

Bibliography of Antonio Martini’s Italian Bible translation editions.

Repertoires of Catholic liturgy relating to Holy Week offices and their editorial diffusion.

Repertoires of Neoclassical Italian binding and Roman devotional book production between the 18th and early 19th century.