Passeri Bernardino (1540-1596) Vita et Miraculi

Passeri, Bernardino (1540-1596) Vita et Miraculi . Rome; [no printer], 1594. Folio, engraved title and forty-three of fifty full-page engravings, some leaves torn and repaired on the versos, a well-loved copy, with verses translated into Italian in a contemporary hand on every page; bound in contemporary limp parchment, worn and becoming detached. This pictorial biography of Saint Benedict of Nursia (c. 480-543) is based on a text written in 593 and attributed (controversially) to Pope Gregory I. No paintings by Passeri survive, but seventy-eight prints are known, most of which appear in this publication.