34 - [HISTORY & ARCHEOLOGY - BRABANT] - DE RAM, Pierre François Xavier (Monseigneur)

[HISTORY & ARCHEOLOGY - BRABANT] - DE RAM, Pierre François Xavier (Monseigneur) "Research on the Tombs of the Dukes of Brabant in Leuven" [Brussels, M. Hayez, 1845] In-4°. Black glossy half-calf. Smooth spine decorated with gold fillets. Title running lengthwise in gold lettering. Foxing. Rare offprint from Volume XIX of the "Nouveaux Mémoires de l’Académie royale des sciences et belles-lettres de Bruxelles." First edition of this remarkable archaeological and historical treatise. A great scholar and the first rector of the Catholic University of Leuven, Monsignor Pierre François Xavier de Ram (1804–1865) presents here a pioneering and scientific study of princely funerary topography. Faced with the ravages of time and the revolutionary vandalism of the previous century, the author undertook to revive and document the tombs of the first dukes of Brabant erected in the duchy’s former capital (primarily within St. Peter’s Collegiate Church and the Dominican Church in Leuven). Drawing on a meticulous examination of abbey archives, medieval chronicles, and old epigraphic records, the work describes with great architectural precision the tombs of major figures such as Godfrey II, Godfrey III, Henry I, and Henry II. The volume is highly sought after for its valuable collection of plates, including lithographic reproductions that faithfully depict funerary monuments, medieval recumbent statues, and the heraldic seals of the ducal house. A classic work of Brabant historiography. References: National Bibliography of Belgium, III, 314; De Seyn, Historical Dictionary, II, 842. Provenance: from the library of Philippe Kervyn of Volkaersbeke (bookplate)