[THE MIRACLE FRIAR OF PALERMO’S CAPUCHIN CATACOMBS] Das Wunder-volle Leben des gottseeligen Diener Gottes F. Hieronymi von Corlione, Capuciner-Leyen aus der Provinz Palermo, Vormahlen in welscher Sprach weitläuffig beschrieben, nunmehro in diese teutsche und kurtze ascetische Geschichts-Form (...) zum geistlichen Nutzen abgefasset [The Miraculous Life of the Blessed Servant of God F. Hieronymi of Corlione, a Capuchin friar from the Province of Palermo, previously described at length in the Italian language, now adapted into this concise German ascetic narrative (...) for spiritual edification].
Munich: Joh. Jacob Vötter, 1754. Small octavo (16.5 × 10 cm). Contemporary blind-embossed white calf; edges speckled red; [28], 294 [recte: 267] pp.. with engraved frontis by G. S. Rösch after L. Weis depicting the saint. The pagination jumps from 273 to 291; leaves slightly toned and fox-stained; hinges and spine of binding rubbed; minor wormholes to boards; else good or better. Item #55157
Second edition of the first German translation, first published in 1753. The original Italian edition was printed 1751 in Palermo. The vita describes the life and miracles of the Capuchin friar Girolamo da Corleone (1639–1717), whose mortal remains are interred in the catacombs of the Capuchins in Palermo, world-famous for their more than two thousand mummies. One of the last miracles described is that even after many days, “not the slightest foul odor” emanated from the corpse. The burial in the crypt – “which, because of the extraordinary treasure of 40 Capuchin bodies that have remained there incorrupt for a whole century, is called the Sanctarium or Sanctuary of Palermo” – is likewise described in detail. When the body was laid out in the church, it had to be protected from the “plunder of the eager crowd,” which, with “scissors and knives (…) attempted not only to cut the habit of the blessed corpse into little pieces,” but “also to remove the hair, the beard, and the nails from the hands and feet.” It was impossible to restrain the “impetuous crowd” in its hunt for relics. When one man “attempted with a small knife to remove a nail from the feet,” he cut too deeply into the flesh, “whereupon immediately a quantity of the most beautiful, fresh, and rose-colored blood flowed forth, as if from a living body, to the greatest astonishment of all present” (p. 254–261).
The Capuchin, who had grown up an orphan, is said during his lifetime not only to have caused the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the mute to speak; even the four elements were said to “obey” him. Particularly remarkable, however, are the detailed accounts of visions in which the monk was allegedly transported not only to Paradise but also to Hell. The descriptions inevitably recall the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch. “Thereupon our enraptured friar beheld an innumerable multitude of damned souls stretched out and nailed upon fiery sheets of metal, while countless devils, in the form of hideous Moors, pried their mouths open with iron hooks by every manner of force and poured molten silver and gold into them (…). (…) Yet even more dreadful were the sufferings endured by those who, out of natural shame, had concealed shameful sins in confession (…) these very souls were punished (…) by being flayed up to the neck; others had their faces slashed with knives and shears, their tongues then cut out, while from others the infernal executioners tore out their hearts with iron tongs and hooks (…).” (pp. 199 and 203).
As of March 2026, KVK, OCLC list no copies in North America; we locate two copies of the 1753 Italian first edition in North America.
Price: €600.00