Manuscript witness to a now lost 18th-century work printed in Messina.
[Manuscript]. Orazione divotissima al nostro Signore Gesù Cristo, ovvero preghiera. Quale chiunque persona dirà, o farà dire cinque giorni con divozione avanti il Santissimo Crocifisso riceverà da Dio ogni grazia che sarà espediente alla salute / con nuova aggiunta delle Sette Allegrezze di Maria Vergine. In Messina per Chiaramonte, e Provenza con Licen: de’ Sup: 1734. [Sicily?], s.n., [late 18th-century?]. 8vo. [15.3 x 10.6 cm], [10] ff. Bound in late 18th-century(?) blue paper, manuscript title label (“Orazione a Gesù Cristo”) affixed to upper cover. Edge toning and spotting, on laid paper with watermark “Camillio Marino” and anchor. Old reinforcement to spine, spine worn, covers with edge wear and staining.
Unusual 18th-century manuscript devotional booklet, apparently the only surviving witness to a now lost work printed in Messina, Sicily, in 1734. The title page ‘imprint’ attributes the text to the press of “Chiaramonte, e Provenza” in Messina, a reference no doubt to Michele Chiaramonte and Antonino Provenzano, who are known to have collaborated in publishing several titles between about 1726 and 1740. The letterpress exemplar of the manuscript work offered here, however, is today nowhere to be found in OPAC, OCLC, or KVK, nor do the Italian texts reproduced in the manuscript seem to be recorded elsewhere. The booklet is thus a fine reminder that manuscript copies of printed texts circulated widely during the early modern period and that such manuscript copies today sometimes represent the only surviving witnesses to certain printed titles.
The first 7 leaves of this popular booklet contain a devotional meditation on the life of Christ that will guarantee good health to those who read it aloud 5 times over 5 days while in view of a crucifix. This prayer, written in the first person, has the reader call to mind incidents from the Gospels: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, Flight into Egypt, the Finding in the Temple, Christ’s various miracles, Entry into Jerusalem, Last Supper, Agony in the Garden, Betrayal by Judas, etc., with special attention given to the Passion. The prayer then has the reader ask “to be freed” like Susanna was from false witness, like Jonah from the Whale, like the Israelites from Egypt. The prayer ends with the reader beseeching Christ for protection from fire, water and any fate that might endanger the reader’s soul.
The next 2 leaves of the booklet provide a version of the Seven Joys of Mary (prayers relating to the Annunciation, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi, Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost, and Coronation of the Virgin) attributed to Saint Metilde. The last leaf contains the Latin prayer “Surge a vespertino fletu, O Maria.”