Saint François de Sales - Œuvres complètes de Saint François de Sales - 1836

Beautiful complete four-volume set of Saint François de Sales' Complete Works, published in Paris in 1836 by A. Desrez, bookseller-editor, in the Panthéon littéraire collection.

Saint François de Sales – Complete Works
New collated and augmented edition
Paris, A. Desrez, bookseller-editor, 11 Rue Saint-Georges
Imprimerie de Béthune et Plon
1836 – 4 volumes

This impressive edition brings together the principal writings of François de Sales: spiritual texts, sermons, opuscules, controversies, letters, unpublished pieces, Introduction to the Devout Life and Treatise on the Love of God.

The first volume is notably enriched with a engraved portrait of Saint François de Sales and a facsimile of his handwriting taken from an unpublished fragment.

François de Sales (1567-1622), bishop of Geneva and a major spiritual figure of the Counter-Reformation, is famous for the gentleness and humanity of his teaching. His work, intended for both religious and laypeople, profoundly influenced French spirituality. He was canonized in 1665 and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1877. With Jeanne de Chantal, he founded the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary.

The four volumes are bound in elegant uniform half-red leather with corners, with red boards featuring a moiré decoration. The backs are richly adorned with large rococo gold tooling, gold fillets, the author's name, and volume numbers.

The endpapers and guards are decorated with remarkable blue marbled paper, particularly decorative.

Specifications:
- Complete set in 4 volumes
- Year: 1836
- Publisher: A. Desrez, Paris
- Collection: Panthéon littéraire
- Bindings: half-red leather with corners
- Backs richly adorned with gold motifs and titles
- Guards with blue marbled paper
- Engraved portrait of Saint François de Sales
- Fac-simile of his handwriting
- About 2,500 pages in total
- Dimensions of each volume: about 26 × 18 cm
- Text laid out in multiple columns

Condition:
A handsome decorative set showing the normal signs of age. Rubs, minor surface cracks, occasional gold loss and wear at the headbands, spines, corners and edges of the bindings. Some marks, small stains and old traces on the boards.

Inside: slightly yellowed paper, foxing and scattered stains, more pronounced on some pages. Some folds, small marginal tears and signs of use may be observed. The portrait tissue guard shows folds and old marks.

Visible defects have been deliberately preserved and are shown in the photographs. Please review them carefully, as they are an integral part of the description.

Despite these traces of time, the set retains a very beautiful bibliophilic presence. The four richly gold-tooled spines form an especially elegant composition in the library.

A monumental and decorative edition of the works of one of the most important French spiritual authors, interesting for collectors of old religious books, spiritual literature, and fine romantic bindings from the 19th century.

Fast shipping, especially careful handling and protection, with tracking number.