SABBATHIER (Esprit). Idealis Umbra Sapientiæ Generalis.... Lot 23

SABBATHIER (Esprit). Idealis Umbra Sapientiæ Generalis. - The Ideal Shadow of Universal Wisdom. Paris: Madame Jablier, sister of François-Marie de Paris, 1679. - 2 works in one volume in-8, 169 x 127: (4 ff.), 21 ff. ; (4 ff.), 21 ff. Brown calf, spine ribbed (period binding). Caillet, III, 9731. - Dorbon, 4274. - Stanislas de Guaita, 921. Extremely rare" (Caillet) first edition of this fully engraved mystical work. According to Caillet, it was "undoubtedly printed in the form of a six-column table with compartments, which was then cut up at will to preserve it in book form. This unusual arrangement explains the extreme rarity of surviving copies, and their singular appearance". This text of high mysticism and Christian Kabbalah was composed by the Capuchin preacher and Kabbalist Esprit Sabbathier, originally from Ivoy in Berry. According to Stanislas de Guaita, it is "scholastic Theosophy in the best sense of the word". The edition was printed at the address of "Madame Jablier, sœur du R. P. François-Marie", referring to François-Marie de Paris (1634-1714), a Capuchin preacher of the Order of Friars Minor and close friend of the author. A precious copy in contemporary binding, enriched with the edition of the French translation published under the same date and printed in the same manner as the Latin edition. "According to Stanislas de Guaita, "These two parallel French and Latin editions, both fully engraved, are rarely found together. From the library of Nancy-based orientalist and writer Auguste-Prosper-François Guerrier de Dumast (1796-1883), Knight of the Legion of Honor (1846), Knight of the Spanish Order of Charles III (1823), Knight of the Mexican Order of Our Lady of Guadalupe (1866) and 3rd Class Knight of the Austrian Order of the Iron Crown (1868). He presided 3 times over the Stanislas Academy. Binding restored. Some soiling to leaves. Provenance : Handwritten bookplate "Bibliothecae Bertlans (?) 1689" on title. - Auguste-Prosper-François Guerrier de Dumast, with bookplate.