1660 Rare Italian Jesuit Philosophical Treatise - La Ricreatione del Savio

Author: Daniello Bartoli, S.J.
Title: La Ricreatione del Savio in Discorso con la Natura e con Dio. Libri Due.
Publisher: In Milano, Appresso Lodovico Monza, 1660.
Language: Text in Italian.
Size: 6.25" x 4".
Pages: 558 pages + Index.
Binding: Very good contemporary full limp vellum binding with yapp edges. Hand-titled spine in manuscript (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Good to very good condition (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing or staining - as shown, lower outer corner of page 39 is chipped, affecting one or two letters only - as shown). 
Illustrations: Illustrated with a fine engraved frontispiece showing smiths at the forge with the Jesuit emblem, signed by G. Heliot. Printer’s woodcut device of the IHS at the end. Decorative woodcut initials throughout.

Estimate: (USD 275 – 350).

The book: A rare and important Jesuit philosophical and spiritual treatise, La Ricreatione del Savio by Daniello Bartoli (1608–1685), published in Milan in 1660. Presented as a “recreation” or discourse of the wise man with Nature and with God, the work is divided into two books that balance natural philosophy with Christian meditation. Bartoli, one of the most eloquent Jesuit writers of the seventeenth century, here reflects upon the order of the natural world, the human condition, and divine providence in elegant Italian prose.

This edition, finely printed by Lodovico Monza, is adorned with a striking allegorical frontispiece of blacksmiths forging under divine inspiration—an image underscoring Bartoli’s blending of natural philosophy and theology.

The author: Daniello Bartoli (1608–1685) was a Jesuit historian, theologian, and celebrated stylist, often called the “Italian Cicero” for the purity and clarity of his prose. His writings include spiritual treatises, natural philosophy, and the monumental Istoria della Compagnia di Gesù. His works were widely admired in seventeenth-century Italy for their erudition and literary elegance, bridging humanist tradition with Jesuit spirituality.