Carlo Maria Gabrielli (1667–1745) - Sette Novene mariane – 6 tavole incise – Legatura in pelle con fermagli originali - 1743

Raffinata collection of Marian devotion by Carlo Maria Gabrielli (1667–1745), priest of the Bologna Oratory, published in Bologna at S. Tommaso d’Acquino in 1743.

In the small format of 14 × 8 cm, the volume brings together the seven Marian novenas listed in the eighteenth-century index: Purification, Annunciation, Visitation, Assumption, Nativity, Presentation in the Temple and Conception. The seven novenas are all present, each with its own title page and autonomous pagination, for a total counted 469 numbered pages.

To enrich the volume there are 6 full-page, out-of-text engraved plates, dedicated to episodes and images of Marian worship. Among the recognizable subjects are the Purification, the Annunciation, the Visitation and the Assumption, along with other depictions of the Virgin. In the small format of the work these engravings have a particularly happy presence and constitute one of the most fascinating elements of the exemplar.

Very beautiful is the antique full dark leather binding, with soberly gold-tooled covers and a spine with raised bands. Both original leather and decorated metal clasps remain, complete and perfectly functional. A remarkable survival for a devotional book of this size, intended to be handled and used frequently. The edges are also well preserved.

The volume also preserves interesting traces of its own history. On some pages originally white, there are ancient handwritten annotations, written in different hands and inks. Among these the date 1806 is clearly legible. No attribution is proposed, but their presence nicely reflects the personal character and lived experience of a book that has passed through generations of use.

Conditions: overall well preserved for its age, with solid and intact binding. The leather shows the natural patina of time, abrasions and contained traces of use; the two original clasps are complete and functional. The interior is fully legible, with natural browning and widespread traces of ancient damp, of varying intensity, which do not compromise the reading of the text or the use of the engravings.

In some sections there are traces of ancient removal of pages, without loss of printed text. For this reason the 6 out-of-text plates are indicated as those actually present in the exemplar, without making a statement about the original completeness of the iconographic apparatus. All seven novenas listed in the index are present, with their respective frontispieces.

Overall, a fascinating Bologna devotional book from 1743, in which an articulated Marian texts apparatus, eighteenth-century engravings, contemporaneous manuscript testimonies, and above all a beautiful historical binding still complete with its two original clasps coexist.

A small volume born for private devotion that, almost three centuries after printing, still preserves much of its character and material history of its long use.