Hildesii: Schlegel [Germany], 1692. 6 1/4" X 3 3/4". "Introduction To Canon Law", in the original Latin. UNIQUE copy. Binding is Vellum [calfskin]. Decorative head & footnotes at the start & ending of each chapter. White embossed leather, red page-ends all-around, hand-written letters. Minor spine bumping/wear, head & foot, corners. Binding is soiled, from extensive age & use. Both end-papers are mottled & browning with age; internal pages still crisp, although spotted in places. Previous owner's florid signature (indecipherable) across the middle of Title Page; cryptic black circular symbol near the Latin Seal on same page, which has bled-through onto the first page of text. Page 133/134 has a small crimp/tear along the leading edge, near the head. Book is slightly off-true, with a bit of separation at the head, but is still tightly bound. Both hinges are sound. 387 pages + 15 pg Index.
A loose translation from the preface by Von Plettenberg follows: "Dear Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven, our Lady of Perpetual Help. I am very grateful to you, My Lady, for these kind tears of mine. They are indebted to you, under whose Good and Faithful Scepter, whose help they have been until now continuously. And so, reviving at the threshold of the Crypt of Hildesius under the Choir of the Cathedral, in which one of my 30 years has already passed, I began to worship you, the Queen of Heaven, in the airy thaumaturge... and I say and finish this Introduction to your Patronage."
