94 - [HISTORY & CHOROGRAPHY - BRABANT] - SANDERUS, Antonius [Translation and additions by Jacques Le Roy]

[HISTORY & CHOROGRAPHY - BRABANT] - SANDERUS, Antonius [Translation and additions by Jacques Le Roy] The Great Sacred Theater of the Duchy of Brabant, containing a general and historical description of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mechelen, and of all other cathedrals, collegiate churches, and abbeys... The Hague, Published by Chrétien van Lom, 1729, Volume I in 2 parts bound in 2 volumes Folio. Full brown period calfskin. Spine with 8 raised bands decorated with panels and gilded ornamentation. Title and volume number labels in Lavallière morocco. Covers decorated with gilt scrolls. Red edges. Numerous defects in the binding. First French edition (translated and considerably expanded based on the monumental "Chorographia sacra Brabantiae" by Antonius Sanderus, published in the 17th century) of this work, which constitutes the entirety of Volume I (divided into two distinct parts, each with its own half-title page). This chorographic and ecclesiastical work remains the definitive reference for the religious, heritage, and genealogical study of the former Duchy of Brabant. This first volume focuses exhaustively on the Archdiocese of Mechelen as well as on Walloon Brabant. The work meticulously examines the history, foundation, legal charters, and succession of abbots at dozens of distinguished sanctuaries (such as Villers-la-Ville, Gembloux, Averbode, and Parc). In terms of its physical presentation, this book’s reputation stems from its extraordinary wealth of illustrations. Engraved on copper in intaglio by the greatest masters of the era (Harrewijn, Blokhuysen, Krafft), the illustrations in this Volume I include numerous insert plates—single, double, or fold-out—featuring sumptuous bird’s-eye views of the abbeys, church interiors, Baroque altars, as well as hundreds of heraldic coats of arms and funerary inscriptions (epitaphs) essential to family history. Unfortunately, this copy is missing a large number of plates (remnants of the cut-outs are inserted) and is therefore very incomplete (unbound). As is. References: Brunet, V, 122; Bibliotheca Belgica, S-182.