ALBANI, Gian Girolamo. Erudita atque luculenta disputatio, Clarissimi Doctissimique iurecunsulti ac equitis D. Ioannis Hieronymi Albani de Imunitate ecclesiarum, ad Iulium III. Pontificem Maximum. Eiusdem varia ac diversa consiliera ut ex opere liquebit. Cum indices locupletissimo in calce iperis adiecto. Romae excudeband Valerius & Aloysius Dorici fratres Brixienses Anno Domini. M.D.LIII. [1553].
FIRST EDITION, CONTEMPORARY WITH AUTHOR’S LIFE. (300 x 200 mm) pp. 426 [30]. With woodblock print inhabited initials throughout & printers device . Signature: a 3, A-Ll 6, Mm 8. Includes the sample alphabet running through the signature letters, and the statement that “Omnes sunt terniones praeter Mm, qui est quaternio” (All are [3 leaf gatherings], execpt Mm which is [a four leaf gathering].” Small slip of contemporary paper with names p. 344, apparently, the same name as is written on the title page “Petr[us] August[us] Mari[a].” Stamp from “Pace Luigi” packing and binding in Genova; possible library shelf sticker from 19th or 20th century, also from Genova. Alumn tawed pig skin binding. p. 331 is missing bottom half, but text remains intact, with suggestion of intentionality. Title page detached but present. Many gatherings are water at least half of the page. Some worming. Spine is deteriorating with sewing stations exposed. Overall POOR condition, but commensurate with age.
Giovanni Girolamo Albani (1509-1591) was a lawyer and cardinal. Born in Bergamo to an important family, he was able to study at Padova, and became a doctor in 1529. He wrote five works against the Protestant reformation and in favour of the rights of the Pope and curia: De donatione Constantini Magni (1535), il De cardinalatu (1541), De potestate Papae et Concilii (1544), De immunitate ecclesiarum (1553), Disputationes ac consilia (1553)and, Lucubrationes in Bartoli lecturas (1559). In 1550, he counciled and defended Michele Ghislieri— the future Pope Pius V— and 6 years later, he hosted Torquato Tasso, who would write Gerusalemme liberata, the Italian-language epic poem comparable in stature to Milton’s Paradise Lost. His life was not without courtly intrigue— in 1563, he and his two sons were involved in the murder of the Count Achille Brembati. For this, he was arrested in Venice and banished from Serenissima. During his time in exile, he wrote Latin verses to demonstrate his contrition and suffering. He became advisor to the newly created Pope Pius V, who in turn made him a cardinal in 1570. He rose in the curia in esteem and was eligible to be elected as pope even in 1585 and 1590; however, he died in 1591.
This work is titled “An Erudite and Lucid discussion of the Most Illustrious and Learned Jurist and Knight, D[octor] Giovanni Girolamo Albani, on the Immunity of the Churches, to Julius III, High Pontiff. The various and different counsels of the same, as will appear from the work.” It is also known by a short title of “De immunitate ecclesiarum” (On the Immunity of Churches).
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