39 - [FESTIVALS & CELEBRATIONS - MECHELEN] - [COLLECTIVE]

[FESTIVALS & CELEBRATIONS - MECHELEN] - [COLLECTIVE] "Processions, ceremonies, festivities, and decorations for the fiftieth-year jubilee of the martyrdom of Saint Rumold, apostle and patron saint of the city of Mechelen. To which is appended a brief account of the life of that Holy Martyr; a glimpse of Mechelen, etc., etc." Mechelen, Van Velsen-Van der Elst, 1825 In-4°. Contemporary olive-colored half-maroquin. Smooth spine decorated with gilt ornamentation. Scuffing. Scattered foxing, mainly on the plates. First edition of this precious commemorative booklet marking the jubilee of the martyrdom of Saint Rombaut, patron saint and legendary evangelizer of the city of Mechelen. The volume is illustrated with 12 fold-out plates and a map of Mechelen. Published on the occasion of the grand festivities of 1825 (which also marked the creation of the cathedral’s current grand reliquary), this official historical account details the organization of the procession, the order of the allegorical floats (prael-wagens), and the temporary decorations erected throughout the city. Designed in collaboration by the Mechelen printers Van Velsen and Van der Elst, the work offers an immersive description of the procession (the prael-treyn) and includes a brief biography of the saint as well as a topographical and heritage overview of Mechelen. This type of document is particularly sought after by regional collectors when it has retained its plates or separate engravings illustrating the floats, as is the case here. References: National Bibliography of Belgium, III, 192; de Potter, History of the City of Mechelen, IV, 312. Provenance: from the library of Philippe Kervyn of Volkaersbeke (ex-libris)