PAPAL CORONATION: AS IT HAPPENED
[ALEXANDER VII, Pope.]
Vero e pieno ragguaglio delle ceremonie fatte per l’incoronazione di n. sig. Alessandro papa settimo il di 18 Aprile 1655.
Rome and Florence, nella stamperia si S. A. S. alla condotta, 1655.
4to, pp. [8]; woodcut papal arms to title, woodcut initial; text in Italian with some Latin; slightly browned; very good in recent decorative paper covered boards.
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Vero e pieno ragguaglio delle ceremonie fatte per l’incoronazione di n. sig. Alessandro papa settimo il di 18 Aprile 1655.
Very rare first(?) edition of this detailed and entertaining account of the coronation of Pope Alexander VII in April 1655, capturing the splendour, colour and emotion of the occasion. The blow-by-blow narrative has a very modern feel, resembling present-day reporting of such events. After describing the elaborate furnishings (including tapestries worked entirely in gold) and seating arrangements (complete with platforms for special guests) laid out in advance in St Peter’s Basilica, the narrative turns to the big day itself, tracking the ceremonials from ten o’clock in the morning and detailing the attendees and their functions, the paraphernalia and processioning, and the Mass and music, culminating in the crowning of Alexander with the papal tiara, and his blessing of the populace gathered in St Peter’s Square to guns firing and shouts of ‘Viva Papa Alessandro’. After a note on the size of the crowds and the fickle weather, the narrator lists the Cardinals who assisted at the ceremony, beginning with the great patron of the arts Francesco Barberini.
Alexander would become known for his (initial) opposition to nepotism, support for the Jesuits, architectural projects in Rome, and writing on heliocentrism.
OCLC records copies at the British Library and Getty only; not on ICCU. Another edition with twelve pages was published in the same year by Bernabo at Rome (also rare).
