First edition of this influential treatise presenting evidence of the woman pope's existence in the service of discrediting the Catholic Church, "the most elaborate and most frequently republished English contribution to this early modern [genre]" (Rustici).
Very good plus.
Price: $3,000.00
"I offer unto thee here a discourse touching POPE JOANE [...] whose Popedome I will make good unto thee, not by the testimonies of [historians], because thou hast condemned their persons, and their books too, to hell: but by the testimonies of thy bretheren."
Presented as a civilized conversation between a Catholic and a Protestant, each citing various sources to make their arguments, Cooke's tract posits that the foundation of the Catholic sacramental system was invalidated by the woman pope's existence. Rather than citing the testimonies of historians — whom the Catholics decried as false — Cooke instead looked to the words and practices of Catholics themselves to compile his evidence. Among a variety of official Catholic records that seemed to indicate Joan's existence, Cooke also cited the tradition of the clergy being clean-shaven to build his case that Joan was able to pass so long as a man ("by the means of shaving [...] men and women were scant knowne asunder," 80); he further listed several Catholic saints whose hagiographies indicate that they also passed for long periods of time.
POPE JOANE persisted as Protestantism strengthened across Europe, receiving a second edition and Latin and French translations; in 1675, it was adapted into A PRESENT FOR A PAPIST, which itself ran three editions. A telling document of the propaganda wars of the Reformation.
Read more: English Short Title Catalogue S108622; Craig Rustici, The Afterlife of Pope Joan.
London: Ed. Blunt and W. Barrit, 1610. Quarto. 6.75'' x 5''. 18th-century full speckled calf, skillfully rebacked. Edges speckled red. Woodcut printer's device to title page, with several woodcut ornaments throughout. [8], 128 pages, collated complete. Bookplates of Bent Juel-Jensen and E. Hubert Litchfield to front pastedown. Early ink inscription "Tittenhanger Library" to front pastedown. Bookplate of Robert S. Pirie to front flyleaf. Early ink shelfmark to front flyleaf. Early ink inscription to verso of second flyleaf, "This book (says Dr. Patrick) was entertained even / by strangers with so much respect yt [that] it was translated / into the French Language by J. de la Montagne." Partially-cropped ink owner name to title page, dated 1611. Binding with some wear, bumping to corners. Leaves with scattered faint soil, first and final leaves a bit toned; first few gatherings with tiny, carefully repaired closed holes, with no loss to text. Sound.
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