Actes Des Saints, Actum Sanctorum, A Hagiographic Monument In 63 Volumes.

Actes des Saints, -Acta Sanctorum quotquot toto orbe coluntur... Collegit, digessit, notis illustravit Joannes Bollandus... Editio novissima, curante Joanne Carnandet. 63 volumes in-folio (390 x 254 mm). Black half-chagrin, cold-stamped spines, gilt title and tomaison, bindings a little rubbed, last 2 volumes unbound, covers worn. Paris, Victor Palmé, 1863-1867. Supplements: volume 61 ( 1875 ), volume 62 ( 1887 ). Third edition of this hagiographic monument. The Acta Sanctorum, or Acts of the Saints, is a considerable sum devoted to the saints of the Catholic Church, attempting to separate known facts from the legends attached to them. The publication, which follows the liturgical calendar, began in Antwerp in 1643 at the instigation of Jesuit Father Jean Bolland (Julémont, 1596- Antwerp, 1665). It was continued over the centuries by a learned society that took his name, the Bollandistes, and dedicated itself to hagiographic studies. There are three editions of the Acta sanctorum. The first, begun in 1643, was continued in the nineteenth century to form 68 volumes. The second, which remains incomplete, runs from 1734 to 1770 and comprises 43 volumes. The third edition was issued by the publisher Victor Palmé between 1863 and 1867, independently of the Bollandists; it reproduces the original but modifies the pagination. It has a shelf space of 4.50 ml and a weight of 284 kg.