This volume contains the collected life and works of Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582), a Spanish Carmelite nun, mystic, and writer. Teresa's powerful impact on the Western esoteric tradition stems from her vivid descriptions of her mystical experiences, particularly her visions and the "transverberation" of her heart by an angel, which she detailed with raw emotional intensity. These experiences, often interpreted as encounters with the divine, resonate deeply with esoteric concepts of direct spiritual communion and altered states of consciousness. Her writings, including her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus, The Interior Castle, and The Way of Perfection, offer a unique window into the inner landscape of a mystic, providing both practical guidance on prayer and deep reflections on the nature of spiritual reality.
Teresa's mystical journey began after a period of illness and spiritual struggle. Her descriptions of her visions are characterized by a powerful sense of immediacy and a rich use of metaphor. She speaks of the soul as a castle with many mansions, a metaphor that has become central to understanding the stages of mystical ascent. Her account of the transverberation, where she felt an angel pierce her heart with a golden spear, leaving her consumed by divine love, is one of the most iconic and frequently depicted mystical experiences in Western art and literature. This event, and others like it, are not merely symbolic; they represent for Teresa a direct, transformative encounter with the divine, a merging of the human and the transcendent.
While firmly rooted in Catholic theology, Teresa's emphasis on direct experience, her exploration of inner states of consciousness, and her descriptions of ecstatic union with the divine have made her a figure of interest beyond the confines of traditional religion. Her writings have been studied by those interested in comparative mysticism, Jungian psychology, and the esoteric traditions of the West.
This particular volume is a remarkable composite artifact blending a scarce late-17th-century Venetian imprint with a unique, dated early 19th-century devotional restoration. This copy of Teresa’s Opere (Tivani, 1696) is distinguished by an extensive manuscript intervention supplied to replace the preliminary leaves lost to time. Rather than rebinding the volume incomplete, a previous owner (identified by colophon as Sebastiano [Casaleina?]) executed a skilled "vernacular restoration" completed on March 18, 1804. This restoration includes a charming, full-page ink wash portrait of the Saint as a Doctor of the Church, executed in a naive but expressive hand, replacing the original copperplate frontispiece.
The manuscript text (spanning several leaves) does not merely copy the original 1696 introduction but updates it with contemporary scholarship. The scribe has carefully transcribed the "Lineage" and "Transito" (Death) of the Saint, explicitly citing the popular mid-18th-century biography by the Carmelite Father Federico di Sant'Antonio (Vita della serafica madre, c. 1754). This volume thus serves as a fascinating "time capsule" of Teresian devotion, physically layering the 17th-century text with 19th-century reader engagement. It transforms a standard theological imprint into a singular witness to the history of the book, preserving the specific labor of love of a devotee who refused to let a damaged volume perish. Four volumes bound together in solid modern library cloth; text block evidences historical worming and wear commensurate with its age and heavy devotional use.
1696. SAINT TERESA OF JESUS. Spiritual Works and Letters. Venice: Antonio Tivani. Four volumes bound together. Vol. I [Spiritual Works]: [6] leaves (handwritten replacement of initial pages, likely 19th century, includes drawing replacing original engraving); [1] leaf (half page); [1] leaf (full page with approvals of the supreme pontiffs); 2 pp. (introduction); 313 pp. (text); 4 pp. (index of the tables of the chapters); 29 pp. (index) up to the "laus." Vol. II [Spiritual Works]: 322 pp. (initial text); 2 pp. (tables chapters); 15 pp. (index) to the end. Vol. I [Letters, First Part]: [2] unnumbered pp. (frontispiece); 135 pp. (text); 11 pp. (indexes) up to the end. Vol. II [Letters, Second Part]: [2] initial pp. (text); 2 pp. (prologue); 134 pp. (text); [3] complete pp. (index of letters). Missing pages of index of notable things. Four volumes bound together. Damages and woodworms present throughout, but the reading of the work is preserved. Specific damages include missing initial pages in Spiritual Works Vol. I (with a handwritten replacement and drawing) and missing pages from the index of notable things in Letters Vol. II.
This volume contains the collected life and works of Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582), a Spanish Carmelite nun, mystic, and writer. Teresa's powerful impact on the Western esoteric tradition stems from her vivid descriptions of her mystical experiences, particularly her visions and the "transverberation" of her heart by an angel, which she detailed with raw emotional intensity. These experiences, often interpreted as encounters with the divine, resonate deeply with esoteric concepts of direct spiritual communion and altered states of consciousness. Her writings, including her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus, The Interior Castle, and The Way of Perfection, offer a unique window into the inner landscape of a mystic, providing both practical guidance on prayer and deep reflections on the nature of spiritual reality.
Teresa's mystical journey began after a period of illness and spiritual struggle. Her descriptions of her visions are characterized by a powerful sense of immediacy and a rich use of metaphor. She speaks of the soul as a castle with many mansions, a metaphor that has become central to understanding the stages of mystical ascent. Her account of the transverberation, where she felt an angel pierce her heart with a golden spear, leaving her consumed by divine love, is one of the most iconic and frequently depicted mystical experiences in Western art and literature. This event, and others like it, are not merely symbolic; they represent for Teresa a direct, transformative encounter with the divine, a merging of the human and the transcendent.
While firmly rooted in Catholic theology, Teresa's emphasis on direct experience, her exploration of inner states of consciousness, and her descriptions of ecstatic union with the divine have made her a figure of interest beyond the confines of traditional religion. Her writings have been studied by those interested in comparative mysticism, Jungian psychology, and the esoteric traditions of the West.
This particular volume is a remarkable composite artifact blending a scarce late-17th-century Venetian imprint with a unique, dated early 19th-century devotional restoration. This copy of Teresa’s Opere (Tivani, 1696) is distinguished by an extensive manuscript intervention supplied to replace the preliminary leaves lost to time. Rather than rebinding the volume incomplete, a previous owner (identified by colophon as Sebastiano [Casaleina?]) executed a skilled "vernacular restoration" completed on March 18, 1804. This restoration includes a charming, full-page ink wash portrait of the Saint as a Doctor of the Church, executed in a naive but expressive hand, replacing the original copperplate frontispiece.
The manuscript text (spanning several leaves) does not merely copy the original 1696 introduction but updates it with contemporary scholarship. The scribe has carefully transcribed the "Lineage" and "Transito" (Death) of the Saint, explicitly citing the popular mid-18th-century biography by the Carmelite Father Federico di Sant'Antonio (Vita della serafica madre, c. 1754). This volume thus serves as a fascinating "time capsule" of Teresian devotion, physically layering the 17th-century text with 19th-century reader engagement. It transforms a standard theological imprint into a singular witness to the history of the book, preserving the specific labor of love of a devotee who refused to let a damaged volume perish. Four volumes bound together in solid modern library cloth; text block evidences historical worming and wear commensurate with its age and heavy devotional use.
1696. SAINT TERESA OF JESUS. Spiritual Works and Letters. Venice: Antonio Tivani. Four volumes bound together. Vol. I [Spiritual Works]: [6] leaves (handwritten replacement of initial pages, likely 19th century, includes drawing replacing original engraving); [1] leaf (half page); [1] leaf (full page with approvals of the supreme pontiffs); 2 pp. (introduction); 313 pp. (text); 4 pp. (index of the tables of the chapters); 29 pp. (index) up to the "laus." Vol. II [Spiritual Works]: 322 pp. (initial text); 2 pp. (tables chapters); 15 pp. (index) to the end. Vol. I [Letters, First Part]: [2] unnumbered pp. (frontispiece); 135 pp. (text); 11 pp. (indexes) up to the end. Vol. II [Letters, Second Part]: [2] initial pp. (text); 2 pp. (prologue); 134 pp. (text); [3] complete pp. (index of letters). Missing pages of index of notable things. Four volumes bound together. Damages and woodworms present throughout, but the reading of the work is preserved. Specific damages include missing initial pages in Spiritual Works Vol. I (with a handwritten replacement and drawing) and missing pages from the index of notable things in Letters Vol. II.
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