Vita Della Beata Giuliana Falconieri Institutrice delle Mantellate dell'Ordine de' Servi di Maria.

Vatican Publication Supporting the Canonization of one of the few Female Founder Saints of the Catholic Church

[2], XII, 86, [2] pages. Patterned end-papers with slight remains of a small ex-libris label. Title in red and black. Vignette engraving to title-page, two engraved initial letters, and an engraved head and tail piece. With a dedication to Pope Benedict XIII.

Binding somewhat rubbed, mainly to corners and extremities and with a few small marks to the boards. Gilt tooling to extremities with signs of wear. Browning to pages 1-8 and 81-86. A very good copy.

Domenico Maria Antinori (1664-1734), Jesuit from Naples and the author of a number of religious works.

The first 37 pages cover the life and death of Giuliana Falconieri (1270-1341) providing a general narrative and context, reflecting the situation whereby her early life had largely been recorded in an oral tradition. The remaining text systematically sets out a number of miraculous events attributed to her sacred relics and the veneration of her memory. Immediately after her death she was honoured as a saint, being formally beatified by Pope Innocent XI in 1678. She was canonised by Pope Clement XII on 16 June 1737 and is revered as a Founder Saint by the Catholic Church for her role in founding the Sisters of the Third Order of Servites.

The first recorded substantive biography of Giuliana Falconieri was written by Prospero Bernardi and printed in Florence in 1681, to be followed by the printing of a 'rhyme' in support of her canonization published in 1721.

Antinori's 1728 work certainly would have benefited from Bernardi's, however a textual comparison shows that occasional new specific details of Giuliana's life were introduced for the first time by Antinori. For example, he identifies that "sua prima origine" was the town of Fiesole, now a comune of the Metropolitan City of Florence. The most striking difference though is in the structure of Antinori's text compared to Bernardi's, the former clearly being constructed to further the case for Giuliana's canonization.

Antinori structures his account of Giuliana's life around her 'saintly' characteristics – such as faith, prudence, humility, poverty, obedience, to name a few. The second half of his text systematically sets out, mostly chronologically, the various miracles attributable to Giuliana's 'presence' following her death, most of which occurred after Bernardi's 1681 biography.

Antinori's account may therefore be viewed as the final Vatican sanctioned public 'push' towards Giuliana Falconieri's canonization. She is celebrated as one of the 39 Founding Saints that have statues in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome (Lower Niche West Side of the Left Transept).

Seemingly Antinori did not anticipate a second edition of his work being issued as, following the very short list of errors and corrections at the end of the book, he writes, "Che se poi siavi altro errore, si lascia al cortese Lettore di correggerlo colla sua saviezza." [If there is any other mistake, it is left to the kind Reader to correct it with his wisdom.]

Only 3 copies found in WorldCat.

This is a high value volume and, as consequence, the shipping cost (using a tracked and signed for service) will be higher than the average quoted in my store listings.