Translation of relics to the remodeled S. Eustachio in Rome. 1 copy worldwide.

Ragguaglio del trasporto delle sagre reliquie de’ corpi de’ SS. Eustachio, e Teopista conjugi, e de’ santi Teopisto, ed Agapito fratelli, martiri, ambo figliuoli de’ medesimi, e della solenne processione fatta nel giorno 19. Settembre corrente 1739. In Roma: per Gio: Battista de Caporali, presso la chiesa di S. Marco, 1739. 4to [19.0 x 14.1 cm], [4] ff., with woodcut device on title page and woodcut initial. Unbound. Top edge trimmed, otherwise well preserved.
 
 
Very rare (1 copy worldwide) 18th-century account of the ceremonial transport of relics of Saint Eustace (d. 113) and his family to the newly remodeled church of S. Eustachio in Rome, which lies just west of the Pantheon. This 4-leaf popular account would have satisfied both those who wanted a memento of the event and those who simply required an inexpensive, ephemeral narrative informing them of yesterday’s happenings.
 
The report notes that when the church, founded in the 8th century, was remodeled in 1196 under Celestino III, the remains of S. Eustachio, his wife (Teopista) and sons (Teopisto and Agapito) were placed in an urn in a room beneath the altar accessible by steps. When Innocent XIII decided to update the church in the early 1720s, it was discovered that the reliquary urn had been damaged by centuries of the flooding of the Tiber River. 
 
Work on the interior of the basilica of Sant’Eustachio spanned from the 1720s to 1760s, but the Ragguaglio del trasporto delle sagre reliquie focuses on the remodeled chapel and altar of the saint and his family, its rich workmanship, and the new porphyry urn commissioned for the relics. Described is the procession to return these relics to the church that took place on 19 September 1739 at 10 P.M.: Buildings along the route were hung with rich tapestries, soldiers stationed at every crossroad, drummers and trumpeters, flagbearers and torchbearers were in abundance, and the Swiss Guard joined the parade. Ecclesiastical luminaries in attendance are named and the ceremony at S. Eustachio, which began just after midnight, is described.  
 
 
OCLC, KVK and OPAC locate 1 copy of this title (Biblioteca nazionale centrale, Rome).
 
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