BELONGED TO THE ITALIAN LAWYER AND FASCIST MINISTER CESARE MARIA DE VECCHI

[Scholasticism] Venerio, Fortunato. Sanctissimo Patri ac Domino Nostro Clementi XII Pont. Opt. Max. Rectae Fidei Cardines et Recta Fides. Auctore D. Fortunato Venerio, Presbytero Congregationis C.R. S. pauli Barnabita &c. Dogmatico-Scholasticarum Quaestionum. Tomus I. Romae, Typis Antonii de Rubeis apud Pantheon in via Seminarii Romani, 1736.
[bound with:]
Venerio, Fortunato. Sanctissimo Patri ac Domino Nostro Clementi XII Pont. Opt. Max. Humanae Infirmitatis Robur;idest De Divina Gratia.Auctore D.FortunatoVenerio,Presbytero Congregationis C.R. S. pauli Barnabita &c. Dogmatico-Scholasticarum Quaestionum.Tomus II. Romae, Ex Typographia Petri Rosati, & Josephi Borgiani in via Parionis, 1737.
[together with:]
Venerio, Fortunato. Sanctissimo Patri ac Domino Nostro Clementi XII Pont. Opt. Max. De Deo Homine Quaestiones Scholasticae, Dogmatica, Historicae. Auctore D. Fortunato Venerio, Presbytero Barnabita &c.Tomus III. Romae, Ex Typographia Petri Rosati, & Josephi Borgiani in via Parionis, 1738.
[bound with:]
Venerio, Fortunato. Sanctissimo Patri ac Domino Nostro Clementi XII Pont. Opt. Max. De Deo Uno et Trino Quaestiones Scholastico-Dogmaticae, Historicae. Auctore D. Fortunato Venerio, Presbytero Barnabita &c.Tomus IV. Romae, Ex Typographia Petri Rosati, & Josephi Borgiani in via Parionis, 1738.

4 volumes bound in 2 folio volumes, stiff vellum with handwritten title at spine, cc. (8), pp. 380 for the first volume; cc. (8), 346 for the second; cc. (8), pp. 382, cc. (1, bianca) for the third; cc. (8), pp. 324 for the fourth. papal coats of arms of Clemens XII at title-page, woodcut headletters, woodcut head and -tail pieces.

Extremely scarce first edition of the first four volumes of Venerio’s collected works, based on scholasticism: the first one is devoted to the Faith; the second one to the Grace; the third deals with questions and reflections on God and the fourth is devoted to the Trinity. Between 1739 and 1741, the author edited four others volumes.

Provenance: Ex-libris Cesare Maria De Vecchi, conte di Val Cismon, engraved by Bramanti at recto of front cover. Cesare Maria De Vecchi, 1st Conte di Val Cismon (1884-1959) was an Italian soldier, colonial administrator and Fascist politician. After graduating in jurisprudence he became a successful lawyer in Turin. His stance on the First World War was interventionist, and he himself took part in the final events of the conflict. On his return to Italy he gave his support to the National Fascist Party, in which he would consistently represent the monarchical and ‘moderate’ wing. He became president of the Turin war veterans and head of the local Fascist squadre. In 1921, he was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies. De Vecchi became Commander General of the Milizia , was one of the quadrumvirs who organised the March on Rome, and sought to persuade Antonio Salandra to enter into Benito Mussolini’s government. He himself became Undersecretary at the Treasury and then at the Finance Ministry. In December 1922 he inspired the squadre of Brandimarte to the 1922 Turin Massacre (Strage di Torino) and he become known as the most important of the Piedmontese squadristi.From 1923 to 1928, De Vecchi was governor of Italian Somaliland, a role which took him away from the centre of the Italian political scene. He was made Count of Val Cismon (in memory of the battles fought by his arditi on Monte Grappa in 1918). He was appointed Senator by King Victor Emmanuel III. He became the first ambassador to the Vatican after the Concordat of 1929. Between 1935 and 1936 he was national Minister of Education: as such he promoted a historiography which identified the House of Savoy as the link between Imperial Rome and the Rome of Fascism, and also worked for the centralisation of the administration of the school system. From 1936 to 1940, De Vecchi acted as governor of the Italian Aegean Islands promoting the official use of the Italian language. In the following year he was appointed to the Grand Council of Fascism and on 25 July 1943, he voted in favour of Dino Grandi’s order of the day which deposed Benito Mussolini of his role as Fascist Duce (leader). As a result, he was condemned to death in absentia during the Verona trial conducted under the auspices of the Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana, or RSI), but he was able to escape to Argentina on a Paraguayan passport. After returning to Italy in 1949, De Vecchi supported the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (Movimento Sociale Italiano, or MSI) together with Rodolfo Graziani. However, he refused to accept any political or institutional office within the MSI.

Reference: Not in Sapori. IT\ICCU\BVEE\056430. OCLC locates two copies in USA, at Newberry Library Chicago, IL and at University of St Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary Library, Feehan Memorial Library, McEssy Theological Resource Center, Mundelein, IL).

A very fine copy, clean and crisp, with a distinguished provenance.