Lot 38 Giovanni Fontana. Avertimenti per la sanità …

Avertimenti per la sanità dell'anime, tratti dalla consideratione della Creatione del Mondo. Mit Holzschnitt-Titelvignette und Buchschmuck. Ferrara, Baldini, 1610. 4 Bll., 251 S., 14 Bll. 4°. Pgt. d. Zt. mit späterem RSchild und Schließbändern (etwas fleckig, teils wurmstichig, vorderes Gelenk angeplatzt).

Theologie und Religionswissenschaften – Sehr selten, für uns auf Auktionen und im Handel nicht nachweisbar. - Unser Exemplar in der Variante mit der Druckermarke Baldinis statt des Kardinalswappen auf dem Titelblatt. - Erste und einzige Ausgabe dieser postum edierten geistlichen Erbauungsschrift des Ferrareser Bischofs Giovanni Fontana (1537-1611), gedruckt in der offizin des Vittorio Baldini, der als herzoglicher und kammer-typograph (typographus cameralis) über Jahrzehnte hinweg die maßgeblichen Ferrareser Kirchen- und Hofdrucke besorgte. Fontana, gebürtig aus Vignola, war ein enger Schüler und Mitarbeiter des heiligen Carlo Borromeo in der Mailänder Diözese, bevor er 1589 zum Bischof von Nikopolis und im Jahr darauf zum Koadjutor und schließlich zum Bischof von Ferrara ernannt wurde, ein Amt, das er bis zu seinem Tod 1611 innehatte. Als engagierter Vertreter der nachtridentinischen Kirchenreform trat er vor allem mit Editti und Ordinationi zur Neuordnung des kirchlichen Lebens seiner Diözese hervor, darunter die grundlegenden "Ordinationi generali per le chiese della Città e Diocese di Ferrara" von 1591. In den vorliegenden "Avertimenti" nimmt Fontana die biblische Schöpfungserzählung zum Ausgangspunkt einer Reihe geistlicher Ermahnungen zur "Gesundheit der Seelen": Aus der Betrachtung der Schöpfung des Weltalls leitet er moralische und spirituelle Lehren für die gläubige Seele ab, ein für die Erbauungsliteratur der Gegenreformation charakteristisches Verfahren, das Naturbetrachtung und Seelenheil miteinander verknüpft. Das Werk fügt sich damit in die Reihe pastoraler Schriften Fontanas ein, mit denen er als "guter Theologe, Philosoph und beredter Prediger" seiner Zeit galt. Giovanni Fontana (1537-1611) war ein römisch-katholischer Prälat, der als Bischof von Ferrara und Titularbischof von Nicopolis in Palaestina wirkte. - Vorsätze erneuert. Titelbl. mit kl. Loch im weißen Rand. Etwas gebräunt und fleckig, teils leicht wasserrandig. Letzte Bll. mit kleinen, teils restaurierten Fehlstellen im weißen Rand.

Theology and Religious Studies – With woodcut title vignette and book decoration. Cont. vellum with later spine label and closing bands (somewhat stained, partly worm-eaten, front joint cracked). - Very rare, not verifiable for us at auctions and in trade. - Very rare, untraceable by us at auction or in the trade. Our copy in the variant bearing Baldini's printer's device rather than the cardinal's coat of arms on the title page. First and only edition of this posthumously published devotional work by the bishop of Ferrara, Giovanni Fontana (1537-1611), printed in the workshop of Vittorio Baldini, who for decades served as ducal and chamber printer (typographus cameralis) and produced the leading ecclesiastical and court publications of Ferrara. Fontana, born in Vignola, was a close disciple and collaborator of Saint Carlo Borromeo in the diocese of Milan before being appointed bishop of Nicopolis in 1589 and, the following year, coadjutor and eventually bishop of Ferrara, an office he held until his death in 1611. As a committed proponent of the post-Tridentine reform of the church, he became known above all for the edicts and ordinances through which he reorganized the ecclesiastical life of his diocese, among them the foundational "Ordinationi generali per le chiese della Città e Diocese di Ferrara" of 1591. In the present "Avertimenti," Fontana takes the biblical account of Creation as the starting point for a series of spiritual admonitions on the "health of souls." From his contemplation of the creation of the universe, he derives moral and spiritual lessons for the believing soul, a method characteristic of Counter-Reformation devotional literature that links the observation of nature with the salvation of the soul. The work thus takes its place among Fontana's pastoral writings, on the strength of which he was regarded in his time as a "good theologian, philosopher, and eloquent preacher." Giovanni Fontana (1537-1611) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as bishop of Ferrara and titular bishop of Nicopolis in Palaestina. Endpapers renewed. Title page with a small hole in the blank margin. Somewhat browned and stained, in places lightly waterstained. Final leaves with small, partly restored losses in the blank margin.

Startprice: 300 €
Estimate: 400 €

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