MERCIER, Désiré-Joseph Patriotisme & endurance.... Lot 1264

MERCIER, Désiré-Joseph Patriotisme & endurance. Pastoral letter from H.E. Cardinal Mercier. Christmas 1914. Illustrated by the nuns of Maredret in the Gothic style of the 13th and 14th centuries. Turnhout Librairie Internationale Catholique, Brepols 1921 Gr. in-8° ; 35 plates (1 captioned serpente detached). In ff. In publisher's cover, folder and slipcase (folder and slipcase slightly damaged). Facsimile of the illuminated transcription of the current edition of this pastoral letter, one of the symbols of civil insubordination in Belgium during the Great War. The iconography is inspired by 14th-century French style, but depicts wartime events such as the devastation of Aarschot, Dinant or Tamines, the execution of civilians, the burning of the halls and library of the University of Louvain, the Yser Plain, etc. Complete with 35 color plates protected by captioned serpents. Edition of 1,250 copies, one of 750 on hollande (no. 670). Ref. Neogotiek in de boekenkast. Tentoonstellingscatalogus. Leuven, Centrale Bibliotheek, 1997, pp. 109-112.