Constitutiones selectae, Nec Non Bullae, Decreta, Epistola, &c. Parochis, Confessariis, Omnibusque Animarum Pastoribus Utiliores Ac Necessariae, in Quibus Theologiae Moralis Ac Dogmaticae Praecepta Vere Insignia, Ex Scriptures Praecipue, Ac Sacris

1761. Canonibus Traduntur. Romae, Expensis Jo: Baptistae Novelli, 1761. 2 parts in one volume. 348 & 307pp. Large 4to. Contemporary vellum binding (some light foxing throughout). Edges stained dark blue. Pope Benedict XIV (Prospero Laurenzo Lambertini - 1675-1758) was Pope from 1740 onwards. The Catholic Encyclopedia says: "Benedict XIV is best known to history as a student and scholar. Though by no means a genius, his enormous application coupled with more than ordinary cleverness of mind made him one of the most erudite men of his time and give him the distinction of being perhaps the greatest scholar among the popes... A temporal sovereign Benedict governed the States of the Church with wisdom and moderation and introduced many reforms for the purpose of diminishing abuse and promoting the happiness and prosperity of the people... In purely spiritual matters the influence of Benedict left a lasting impression on the entire Church and its administration. His Bulls and Encyclicals which have played such an important part in defining and clarifying obscure and difficult points of ecclesiastical law, were learned treatises full of wisdom and scholarship... In order that the clergy should not be deficient in ecclesiastical and historical science, and that they might not lack opportunity to profit by the intellectual progress of the period, he founded at Rome four academies for the study of Roman antiquities, Christian antiquities, the history of the Church and the councils, and the history of canon law and liturgy. He also established a Christian museum, and commissioned Joseph Assemani to prepare a catalogue of the manuscripts in the Vatican Library, which he enriched by the purchase of the Ottobonian library containing 3,300 MSS of unique value and importance... To his subjects Benedict was an idol. If they complained at times that he wrote too much and governed them too little they all agreed that he spoke well and wittily, and his jokes and bon mots were the delight of Rome... Great as a man, a scholar, an administrator and a priest, Benedict's claim to immortality rests principally on his admirable ecclesiastical writings."