Ecclesia Catholica
Officium Beatae Mariae Virginis Nuper reformatum, & S.Pii V. Pontificis Maximi jussu editum. Ad instar Breviarii Romani sub Urbano VIII. recogniti. Antwerp: Ex Architypographia Plantiniana, 1759. 4to (in 8s). full leather by Townsend, sometime rebacked, marbled endpapers, red edges; printed in red and black, eng. vignette on title, 57 full-page engravings, inhabited initials, decorative woodcut tailpieces (some in red), red printer's mark at colophon. Some marginal staining, likely from damp, to final leaves.
The Council of Trent ordered the revising and standardising of liturgical books for the final approval of the Pontiff. The Breviary came out in 1568, the Missal in 1570 and the Office of Our Lady in 1571. As was common in book production of the day, a monopoly was established for each, though the original holders had the right to enter into agreements with other printers. Thus, Christophe Plantin was able to print the Breviary in Flanders and Brabant, and later had approval to print the Office of the Virgin as well. The Officina Platiniana began printing luxury editions of Catholic liturgy under the Archduke Albert of the Netherlands and the Infante Isabella and this led to their superb 1601 edition, with 41 plates. This further expanded in 1609 with additional plates to make the 57 used here. This edition is one of several 17th and 18th century reprints of the work.