1592 NICHOLAS SANDERS CATHOLIC REFORMATION HISTORY RARE

An exceptionally Rare Catholic Theological work by Nicholas Sanders, printed in Wurzburg Germany in 1592:

DE VISIBILI

MONARCHIA

ECCLESIAE,

LIBRI VIII….

Auctore Nicholas Sandero, sacrae Theo-

logiae Professore.

Accesserunt eisudem Auctoris de Clave David, seu de regno Christi, libri sex, quibus

Continentur huius de visibili Monarchia Ecclesiae operis contra quosdam op-

Pugnatores necessaria defensio, Romae primum, nunc etiam

in Germania excuse.

Cun INDICE rerum & personarum locuplete.

Singulorum librorum argumenta sequens pagina indicabit.

WIRCEBVRGI,

Apud viduam Henrici Aquensis Episcopalis typographi.

Anno      M. D. XCII.

Size Folio, 13.25” x 8.5”. 808 pages, plus Indices.

Also bound with:

DE CLAVE DAVID

SEV

REGNO CHRISTI

LIBRI SEX,

CONTRA CALVMNIAS ACLERI

pro visibili Ecclesiae Monarchia,

AVCTORE NICOLAO SANDERO

Anglo, sacrae Theologiae professore.

VVIRCEBVRGI,

Apud viduam Henrici Aquensis Episcopalis typographi.

Anno    M. D. XCII.

153 pages, plus index.

Original binding of dark brown calf, with tooled motif to centre of each cover and triple border at edge. Six raised bands to the spine with gilt titles on red morocco label in the second compartment.

External condition good to fair. The original binding is rubbed, leather coming away from board on front cover, leather missing from bottom section of spine, hinges cracked and weak, no pastedowns, original endpapers present.

The internal condition is better, endpapers frayed at bottom with loss, fraying with loss of paper not text to outer right margin of title, light water mark to top edge of first 100 pages. Old minor worm track to lower margin of about 40 pages. Other than this the pages are pretty clean, slightly toned but no foxing, the texts still crisp and sharp.

NICHOLAS SANDERS (c. 1530-1581), Roman Catholic agent and historian, ordained c.1550 exiled in Augsburg in 1566.

This work by Sanders “De visibili Monarchia Ecclesiae…”, first published in 1571, contains the first narrative of the sufferings of the English Roman Catholics.

Its extreme papalism and its strenuous defence of Pius V.'s bull excommunicating and deposing Elizabeth marked out Sanders for the enmity of the English government, and he retaliated with lifelong efforts to procure the deposition of Elizabeth and restoration of Roman Catholicism.

His expectations of the cardinalate were disappointed by Pius V.'s death in 1572, and Sanders spent the next few years at Madrid trying to embroil Philip II., who gave him a pension of 300 ducats, in open war with Elizabeth." The state of Christendom," he wrote, "dependeth upon the stout assailing of England.”

His writings have been the basis of all Roman Catholic histories of the English Reformation.

In this work he is deeply critical of Henry VIII, even suggesting that Anne Boleyn was actually Henry VIII’s own daughter