169 - [KLAUBER, Joseph Sebastian and Johann Baptist]. Litaniae Lauretanae ad Beatae Virginis. Complete set.

[KLAUBER, Joseph Sebastian and Johann Baptist]. Litaniae Lauretanae ad Beatae Virginis. Complete set. A magnificent copy of this masterpiece of 18th-century German Baroque illustration, preserved in its original Rococo full morocco binding. [Augsburg, Johannes Baptist Burckhart, 1758]. In-12 (190 x 124 mm), full old red morocco, ribbed spine, panels adorned with a central rosette-shaped fleur-de-lis surrounded by stars and small gilded corner scrolls, rich framing decoration on the covers consisting of a wide gilded Rococo-style border with small scrolls (volutes, floral motifs, and shells), endpapers and half-leaves of decorated paper from the period featuring a large pattern of purple ramaged foliage on a white background, edges adorned with gilded striations, gilt edges. A frontispiece and 56 steel engravings (approximately 154 x 100 mm) mounted on laid paper. The plates bear the engraved imperial privilege “C.P.S.C.M.” in the lower margin, as well as the workshop’s signature: “Klauber Cath. Sc. et exc. A.V.” Caps, corners, and edges are rubbed; there is a tear on the top cap. Complete set of engravings from the second Latin edition of the Litany of Loreto. This devotional book contained a collection of prayers to the Virgin Mary, illustrated with emblems rich in mystical symbolism. Used as early as 1558 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto, and later approved by Pope Sixtus V in 1587, these litanies celebrate Mary’s various attributes: Mother (10 emblems), Virgin (6 emblems), and Queen (8 emblems), while invoking her as the “Refuge of Sinners,” the “Seat of Wisdom,” or the “Comforter of the Afflicted.” The engravings by the brothers Joseph Sebastian (1710–1768) and Johann Baptist Klauber (1712–1787), based on drawings by Gottfried Bernhard Göz (1708–1774), unfold a fascinating profusion of allegories. The plate “Mater Purissima” features a surprising astronomical scene in which scholars observe the sky through a telescope from a balustrade. In the “Mater Inviolata” plate, Mary stands on a crescent moon, the monogram of Christ on her chest, surmounted by a zodiacal ring and the Holy Spirit, whose ray is reflected in a putto’s mirror. While these complex compositions—blending science, nature, and theology—may border on surrealism to the modern eye, their biblical references were crystal clear to the faithful of that era. The plates are in excellent condition, housed in a full Rococo binding.