Bidspirit auction | [HISTORY] - Forbidden Books: The

[HISTORY] - Forbidden Books: The 1758 Index with Engraved Frontispiece - BENEDICTUS XIV Pope (1675 - 1758) - Index Librorum Prohibitorum SSmi D.N. Benedicti xiv pontificis maximi iussu recognitus, atque editus. Romae, Typogr. Rev. Camerae Apostolicae, 1758. 4to (275x196 mm.), contemporary vellum with title on spine (light loss of vellum at foot), red sprinkled edges, light foxing, but a genuine copy. Old bookplate on outer margin of titlepage. Engraved frontispiece showing the burning of books, pp. (12 incl. front.), xxxix, (1 blk), 268. The censor’s encyclopaedia: the list of forbidden books. First rare edition in quarto (which was given only to high-grade prelates), of the new index published in 1758 by the order of Pope Benedict XIV. It is the edition that represents the biggest cultural change since the Council of Trent and was prepared to reduce the great number of books listed over the centuries, so completely updating it with a new alphabetical order, but also – more importantly - removing all the mistakes accumulated along the years. But the big change was indeed the elimination of the long-time lasting prohibition (the famous ‘regula quarta’) regarding the detention and reading of Bibles printed in national languages. Rebellato no. 206 (1)