1718 Rare Venetian Edition – Meditationes by Saint Augustine in Vellum

Author: Saint Augustine of Hippo. With texts by Saint Anselm, Saint Bernard, and the anonymous Idiotæ.
Title: Divi Aurelii Augustini Hippon. Episcopi Meditationes, Soliloquia et Manuale. B. Anselmi cum tractatu de humani generis redemptione. D. Bernardi Idiotæ viri docti de amore divino.
Publisher: Venice, Nicolaum Pezzana, 1718.
Language: Text in Latin.
Size: 4.5" x 2.5".
Pages: 367 pages + Index.
Binding: Very good contemporary full vellum binding with raised bands. Hand-lettered title to spine (faded) (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing or staining - as shown). Complete with engraved title-page depicting Saint Augustine with a crosier and an angel. Early Jesuit editorial dedication by Henricus Sommalius. Index and approbation at the end.
Illustrations: Illustrated with an engraved title-page depicting Saint Augustine with a crosier and an angel (signed by Isabella I.). 

Estimate: (USD 300 – 350).

The book: A rare Venetian 1718 edition of Saint Augustine’s Meditationes, accompanied by his Soliloquia and Manuale, texts that were central to early modern devotional practice. This volume also includes spiritual works by Saint Anselm of Canterbury, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, and the mysterious Idiotæ on divine love. This Jesuit edition, carefully revised and published by Nicolaus Pezzana, reflects the Catholic Counter-Reformation emphasis on meditative prayer and the inner life. The engraved title page is a striking feature, portraying Augustine as bishop and doctor of the Church.

The author: Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430) is among the most influential theologians of Christianity. His Confessions, City of God, and devotional treatises shaped Western spirituality, philosophy, and the theology of grace. The Meditationes, though likely compiled posthumously from Augustinian texts, became one of the most widely read books of Christian devotion from the Middle Ages through the Baroque era.

The contributors:

• Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109): philosopher and doctor of the Church, remembered for his theological writings and the ontological argument for God’s existence.

• Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153): mystic and reformer, who emphasized the power of divine love and spiritual union with God.

• The “Idiotæ” (or “Simple Man”): an anonymous medieval author of meditations on divine love, often included in Augustinian devotional collections.