Fundamina et regulae omnium ordinum monasticorum et militarium: quibus, asceticae religionis status a Christo institutus, ad quartum vsque seculum producitur ; & omnes ordinum regulae postmodum conscriptae, promulgantur. ; bound together with Annales monastici sive Chronologia libris septemdecim totidemque seculis distincta : complectens omnium Ordinum Monasticorum et militarium origines, progressus, icones, insignia varijs typis expressa, personas illustres, euentus notabiles : congregationum, abbatiarum, prioratuum, conuentuumque primariorum fundamina, a Natiuitate Domini, ad annum eiusdem MDCXXVII.: A History of Religious Orders and a Chronology of Religion.

(i) Prospero Stellartio [Prosper Stellart], Fundamina et regulae.... Duaci [Douai], Baltazaris Belleri [Balthazar Bellere / Laurence Kellam], 1626 bound together with (ii) Prospero Stellartio [Prosper Stellart], Annales monastici sive Chronologia libris septemdecim totidemque seculis distincta.... Duaci [Douai], Gerardum Pinchon [Gerard Pichon], 1627 [2nd edition, 1st 1626].

An article by Alexander Soetaert and Heleen Wyffels in the September 2021 edition of The Library (page 374) has identified the printing house of Laurence Kellam (also of Douai) as the likely printer, in whole or part, of 'Fundamina et regulae omnium ordinum monasticorum et militarium….'. See photos for the so-called hidden trade mark of Laurence Kellam, a typographical ornament containing his initials ('L. K.')

4to., (i) [in fours] a4 e4 A-Z 2A-2Z 3A-3Z 4A-4R [4R4 blank]; [16], 660, [26] pages with 3 folding tables at 2I4 p256, 2T4 p336, and 3E2 p404; (ii) a1 F2 F3 a2?, [in fours] A – S ; [6], 24, 18, 20, 26, 26, 30, [4] pages with a folding table after F4 [a repeat of the first table from the Fundamina et regulae..]

Full vellum binding with overlapping foredges. Binding a little stained and marked with slight loss to the lower corners. Endpapers a little soiled. Staining to the lower margin, very light in places, to the first half of 'Fundamina et regulae' otherwise text clean. Pages of the first two parts of 'Annales monastici'browned. Handwritten title to spine. Modern ex-libris, Henn Wolfram Riedesel Freiherr zu Eisenbach, to front free endpaper. A descendent of the five male Riedesels who were in 1680 granted the title of "Freiherr zu Eisenbach" by the German Emperor, with that title passing to all their male descendants who reached majority age. The title is usually translated as "Baron" in English.

Prosper Stellart (1586 - 1626) was a member of the religious order of St. Augustine and a historian. He travelled throughout Europe for the affairs of his order and published a number of works mostly printed in Douai.

(i) Only edition of 'Fundamina et regulae' being a compilation covering the foundation and rules of various monastic and military orders; Pachomius, Basil, Augustine, Caesarius, Benedict, Francis of Assisi, Francis of Paola, the Trinitarian, Carmelite, and Jesuit orders, and the Knights Templar, prefaced by a historical survey of monasticism. With a dedicatory epistle to Leodegario Tison, Monastery of St. Gregory Douai, the oldest of the English Benedictine continental houses, which was founded in 1606 in Douai. It housed the largest number of exiled Catholic communities following the Gunpowder Plot. The printer's device on the title page is slightly different from that viewed in 5 copies available on-line. The setting in other respects is the same. WorldCat lists 9 libraries holding copies.

(ii) Both first and second editions of the 'Annales monastici' are scarce. This edition contains 6 separately paginated books covering, in chronolgical order, the main events of the first six centuries of Christianity, including a small number of illustrations inserted in the text. The chronology also includes timelines according to other calendars, "Olympiad", "Urbis", "Pontificum", Imperat[ori]", and "Regum Gallia".

Bound in following the title page of 'Annales monastici', are 4 pages (with F2 and F3 signatures) of a fragment of a neo-Latin elegy(?) concerning Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553 - 1595); Austrian prince and son of Maximilian II (Holy Roman Emperor) and Maria of Spain. From 1594 to 1595 he served as governor of the Spanish Netherlands. He died in Brussels in 1595.

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