Manual for Norman Priests
[AVRANCHES.]
Manuale Abrincense, autoritate illustrissimi ac reverendissimi D.D. Josephi-Francisci de Malide, Abrincensis episcopi, editum. Avranches, François le Court, 1769.
12mo, pp. [4], 189, [3]; text in Latin and French, the first two leaves printed on pale blue paper, headpieces; small hole at foot of p. 105, short tear at head of p. 147, slight marginal paperflaw to p. 181, some light dampstaining to lower margins; good in contemporary vellum, some printed text to covers, endpapers comprising printed waste from an eighteenth-century edition of a legal text (headline: Institutionum liber IV); slightly marked, tears to front pastedown; contemporary ownership inscriptions to title ‘Fortin’ and ‘C. Desvaux’, nineteenth-century inscription to title verso ‘Justine Lorient'.
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Manuale Abrincense, autoritate illustrissimi ac reverendissimi D.D. Josephi-Francisci de Malide, Abrincensis episcopi, editum.
Rare provincially printed liturgical manual issued by Bishop Joseph-François de Malide (1730–1812) for priests serving in the diocese of Avranches in Normandy.
The Manuale provides procedural instructions and requisite texts in Latin and French for administering the sacraments, beginning with Baptism, including recommended procedure in cases of ‘monstrous births’ where the newborn exhibited two heads or two chests, for example. The section on Penance and absolution follows, and then on administering the Eucharist to the sick, incorporating a set of questions to be posed by the priest and responses to be given by the recipient. The chapter on Extreme Unction directs the priest to anoint the dying person’s eyes, ears, nose, tongue, hands, chest, and feet, and covers times of plague and recording last wills and testaments. The final section is on Matrimony, noting that the priest can abstain from blessing the marriage bed if he fears any scandal.
No copies in the US on OCLC. Library Hub records two copies in the UK (BL, Lambeth Palace).