ATHANASIO DE BARCELONA

Vida, y Virtudes del Venerable Padre Fray Gabriel Macia de Canet. 1721.

Publisher: Gerona: En la Imprenta de Gabriel Bró, 1721.

[8 x 6 inches]

(1), [16], 82pp. [2], (1)

[Spanish]

Condition: Very Good

Scarce early eighteenth-century Spanish hagiography documenting the life, virtues, and enduring reputation of the Catalan Capuchin friar Gabriel Macia de Canet. Written by Fray Athanasio de Barcelona, the work was intended not merely as a biography but as a guide to Christian conduct, presenting Macia as a model of piety, humility, devotion, and monastic virtue. The author notes that readers will find reasons to reject vice, embrace virtue, and reflect upon the exemplary life of a man whose reputation for holiness had spread widely among his contemporaries. Illustrated with an engraved portrait frontispiece of Gabriel Macia and a woodcut device on the title page.

Contemporary soft vellum binding with remnants of the original twine closures. Engraved portrait frontispiece. Spine paste-down largely lacking.

Wrinkling to the vellum throughout. Some staining to the front and rear boards. Small areas of worming to the upper portion of the front vellum cover extending into the first endpaper. The upper closure is entirely absent, while a small portion of the lower closure remains intact. Scattered spotting, browning, and foxing throughout, along with a few minor smudges and ink stains. A very good example overall of this scarce Spanish provincial imprint.