The Mystical Element of Religion As Studied In Saint Catherine Of Genoa And Her Friends

London/New York: J.M. Dent/E.P. Dutton, 1908. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good+. First Edition. Hardcover. Hugel, Baron von Hugel (1852-1925), Roman Catholic philosopher and author who was the forerruner of the realist revival in philosophy and the theological studies of religious feeling [-Britannica]. "von Huegel was a remarkable man who set out to write a biography of Saint Catherine of Genoa and ended up writing an extensive and brilliant treatise on the ‘philosophy of mysticism.' Catherine of Genoa (Caterina Fieschi Adorno, 1447-15 September 1510) was an Italian Roman Catholic saint and mystic, admired for her work among the sick and the poor and remembered because of various writings describing both these actions and her mystical experiences. She was a member of the noble Fieschi family, and spent most of her life and her means serving the sick, especially during the plague which ravaged Genoa in 1497 and 1501. She died in that city in 1510. Using St. Catherine and her friends as illustrative examples, in this book he develops his well-known analysis of the three basic elements of religion 1. the institutional, 2. the intellectual and 3. the mystical. While he saw the mystical element as the summit of religion, von Huegel insisted that all three are necessarily present at the same time, and that the key to the highest spiritual life is attainment fo the proper balance among the three" [-Michael Downey, intro to 1999 edition]. Very minor shelf wear on two edges, volume two has very minor bump to front extremities. Both volumes with some foxing at start and end, else text and content clean and crisp, large margins, untrimmed. Two volumes bound in publishers brown cloth, embossed printers mark to covers, title in gilt to spines. Both title pages in red and black print. Volume one lacking first blank, no affect and cleanly removed. With two frontispieces, volume one with sepia tone engraving of St. Catherine and volume two with engraving of Battista Vernazza, transfers to tissue guards.