Bidspirit auction | Manuel Bernardes Branco

Manuel Bernardes Branco - Ordens Monáticas em Portugal - Manuel Bernardes Branco. Published in 1888 in Lisbon by Livraria Editora de Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, this monumental first complete edition in three volumes of ”History of the Monastic, Religious and Military Orders and the Auxiliary Congregations in Portugal, ” by the renowned writer and bibliographer Manuel Bernardes Branco, constitutes one of the most exhaustive, rare, and well-documented reference works on the history and influence of religious institutions in Portuguese territory. The collection, comprising Volume I (313 pages), Volume II (748 pages), and Volume III (740 pages), stands out for its exceptional bibliophilic value, presented in elegant period half-leather bindings with corners, marbled paper-covered plates, and matching endpapers, which exhibit natural wear on the spine and edges consistent with age, with partial fading of some of its original gold tooling and titles. The interior of all volumes is in excellent overall condition, with clean and perfectly firm binding. Each volume has the highly appreciated feature of retaining the original covers and back covers of the publisher's brochures, mirrored inside, attesting to the extreme care taken in their preservation over more than a century. The pedigree of this copy is of the highest level, with each of the three volumes bearing the ex-libris of the prestigious library of the illustrious Portuguese collector, bibliophile, and researcher Viriato Barbosa (with his respective identification engraved), which attests to a historical provenance of great intellectual relevance and makes it an unusually important piece for highly specialized libraries or collectors of national religious and historical themes.