It’s a nun’s life

It’s a nun’s life

“La regle et constitutions des religieuses deschaussées, de l’ordre de la glorieuse Vierge Marie, du Mont-Carmel.”

-Printed in Lyon by Claude Cayne 1634, “At the golden Lion”

-In 16, (A-S8), 11 x 5.5 cm.

-First edition. 287 pages.  Complete

Very good condition, a few marks and stains to pages, minor old wormholes, crossed out text on G4 and a tear to the textblock on R1.

Bound in 14th Century manuscript containing heavily abbreviated legal text. Likely a commentary on Justinian’s “Corpus Juris Civilis”. 

This handbook for "Decalced" Carmelite nuns is bound in a 14th Century civil law manuscript.

The pocket-sized handbook entitled "La regle et constitutions des religieuses deschaussées" contains daily rules for nuns in a strict Carmelite monastery, centred around prayer, poverty and fasting.

"Decalced" or "Dechaussées" meant "without shoes" signifying the vows of extreme poverty that this order of Carmelite nuns embraced.

The order was founded by Saint Teresa of Avila - a Spanish nun and mystic who founded the “decalced” order following visions 👀 of Christ, an experience where an 👼 angel with a golden spear pierced her heart, and after several episodes of levitation during prayer 🙏

The Manuscript-waste binding contains a heavily abbreviated 14th Century commentary on Roman law. One passage comments on a case regarding the inheritance of slaves, who are granted freedom by a magistrate despite the inheritor son's wishes to keep them as property.

The book itself was published in Lyon in 1634 and is uncommon - I have located only three copies on Worldcat (Antwerp, Rome and Paris). The text describes the rules and regulations for the community of nuns. A second edition of the text followed in 1654.

OCLC 3 copies only: Antwerp, Rome, Paris (Sainte-Geneveive). No copies in US

£1500