1698 Rare Latin Book - Sacred Latin Hymns and Music Scores by Santolio Victorino

Author: Santolius Victorinus (Santolio Victorino).
Title: Hymni Sacri et Novi.
Publisher: Parisiis, Apud Dionysium Thierry, via Jacobæa sub signo Urbis Lutetiæ, 1698. Cum privilegio Regis.
Language: Text in Latin and French.
Size: 6.5 x 4 inches.
Pages: 294 pages, followed by an index and 12 final pages of printed music scores (chant notation).
Binding: Very good contemporary full brown calf leather binding, spine in compartments with raised bands and a gilt-lettered red morocco label “HYMN I SACRI.” (hinges worn but tight and secure - as shown, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown, spine ends worn, with a small chip/loss to the upper spine - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. All edges gilt.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing and toning - as shown).
Illustrations: Woodcut printer’s device on the title page; decorative headpieces and tailpieces throughout. The final 12 pages contain music for selected hymns, clean and legible.

Estimate: (USD 350–500).

The book Hymni Sacri et Novi is a late seventeenth-century Catholic hymnody collection that gathers sacred Latin hymns arranged for liturgical use throughout the ecclesiastical year. Printed in Paris under royal privilege in 1698, the volume reflects post-Tridentine devotional culture, combining poetry, theology, and chant. The inclusion of printed music at the end makes this more than a textual anthology, functioning as a practical choir or clergy book. Its small, portable format suggests it was meant for regular use rather than display, which explains the honest wear to the calf binding.

The author, Santolius Victorinus (Santolio Victorino), was a hymnographer active in the late seventeenth century, known for composing and compiling sacred Latin verse for ecclesiastical singing and private devotion within the Catholic tradition.