(THE BLACK MADONNA OF EINSIEDELN). ~ Heures de Notre-Dame des Hermites. Ou Recueil d’ exercises de piété a l’usage des tous les chrétiens, et principalement des serviteur de Marie. Troisième édition. Notre-Dame des Ermites [Einsiedeln, Suisse] : François Sales Bezinger et fils, 1821.
pp. [10], 446, [6], plus engraved frontispiece.
[bound with]: Précis de l’Histoire de l’abbaye et du pélérinage de Notre-Dame des Hermites, depuis son origine jusqu’a present. Notre-Dame des Ermites [Einsiedeln, Suisse] : François Sales Bezinger et fils, 1820, pp. [4], 90, [2].
2 works bound together, 8vo (170 × 100 mm). Contemporary straight grained green morocco gilt, the sides with roulette borders, floral and urn cornerpieces, enclosing a central tool depicting the Black Madonna, panelled spine, gilt edges, silk ribbon. Lightly rubbed. An excellent copy.
A delightful reliure parlante depicting the statue of the so-called Black Madonna, an object of veneration for countless pilgrims, here binding two works printed at the shrine of Maria Einsidel, at Einsiedeln Abbey near Zurich. The Abbey, originally the hermitage of the ninth-century St Meinrad, became a major pilgrimage destination, attracting pilgrims to its Chapel of Grace, reputed by legend to have been consecrated by angels or by Christ himself. The central focus of the pilgrimage was (and still is) the fifteenth-century statue of the Black Madonna or ‘Our Lady of the Hermits’, successor to a much older image associated with St Meinrad himself. The Abbey became a significant centre for printing and several printers produced books, images and pamphlets for pilgrims there, but surviving bindings, presumably made there too, are rare.
‘The history of the Einsiedeln figure is somewhat convoluted: it is thought to have been carved about 1450, replacing a much older, seated Madonna. In 1798, the statue was secreted through Switzerland and Austria to protect it from the invading French army. It was uncovered the following year and given to the restorer Johann Adam Fuetscher, who describes having “repainted” the black face. It is assumed the original statue did have light, pink-colored skin, but the figure is thought to have turned black long before its restoration. While many sources further the idea that the statue was darkened from years of exposure to the flames and smoke from nearby candles, the image of the Black Madonna is nonetheless a distinct object of worship and pilgrimage’ (Hanna Siesel, The Frick Collection blog, September 16, 2016).