Title prayers new old (1 résultats)

N.p., but France (probably Paris) and dated on the title M.DCC.XLII (1742). 8vo (175 x 115mm). Paginated recto and verso to 261pp. Title page with hand-drawn heraldic device (of the scribe?): unidentified joined arms of checky and wavy, all surmounted by crown. French text comprises chronologically-arranged devotions following the books of the Bible(Genesis to Apocalypse). Each prayer is titled with its biblical book and cited with chapter and verse numbers at the end. Written in a consistent hand, in brown ink in both calligraphic majuscule and italic letters, and neatly laid out within ruled borders. 19th-centurycalf gilt, inner gilt dentelles, marbled edges; (edges lightly browned, corners lightly bumped, otherwise very good copy of this seemingly unique manuscript by an unknown compiler). A later printed book sharing this title is attributed to the French poet and moralist Pierre-Laurent Bérenger (17491842), known as the "Troubadour of Provence." Bérenger's collection publishes a close textual variant of this manuscript, copying many of the prayersoutright, and was first printed in Paris by P. G. Simon in 1767. According to the title, the 1767 18mo edition also contained the daily and nightly prayers for families. Bérenger's Recueil de toutes les prieres was reprinted again with Simon in 1782, including the prayers for the Divine Office, and again in 1803 in Lyon with the slightly different title, "Recueil de prières, contenant toutes celles qui se trouvent dans l'Ecriture sainte" ("Collection of prayers, containing all those found in the Holy Scriptures"). Dated 1742, this manuscript book precedes the work of Bérenger by several years and it is unlikely that he had any direct connection to its original composition. It is more likely that manuscript copies of this text were in circulation and available to Bérenger (and his circle) when he took up the later work of publishing it. The layout of the manuscript's title page with probably a fictitious heraldic "printer's mark" and date written in roman numerals suggests this copy was being prepared for print and was possibly abandoned for some years. Bérenger's preface in the 1782edition, gives some clues to his intent, but does not mention the original source material. It reads, translated, "There can be no more pleasing prayers to God, and therefore more useful to the faithful, than those which his Holy Spirit himself has dictated; this Book contains all of them, with the exception of the Psalms, which we have not thought fit to add to it, so as not to overgrow the volume bringing together, if you will, all the prayers which Holy Scripturefurnishes, the most suitable for every circumstance, the different dispositions of the souls, and the needs of each one in particular." This is a unique manuscript book precursor on the prayers found in Scripture, composed in French and later disseminated in print - we could not locate another manuscript copy .…