Genealogia diplomatica augustæ gentis Habsburgicæ, qua continentur vera gentis hujus exordia, antiquitates, propagationes, possessiones, & prærogativæ, chartis ac diplomatibus, no. cmliv., maxima parte hactenus ineditis, asserta; adjectis sigillis, aliisque monumentis æri incisis, mappa item geographica, & indicibus locupletissimis. Hæc vero res non modo Habsurgicas universe corroborant, sed aliis etiam pluribus illustrissimis Germaniæ nostræ familiis, et patriæ medii ævi historiæ lucem foenerantur. Opera et studio R.P. Marquardi Herrgott, ordinis. S. Benedicti, congregationis S. Blasii in Nigra Sylva capitularis & magni cellerarii, nec non sacræ cæsareæ regiæque catholicæ majestatis consiliarii, & historiographi, ordinumque anterioris Austriæ per Brisgoviam apud aulam cæsaream deputati. Tomus primus. Half title: Genealogia diplomatica augustæ gentis Habsburgicæ

Vienna: Leopold Johann Kaliwoda, 1737. Book one only, of two. Tomi Duo. 442 x 277 mm. binding: Modern half brown morocco over speckled boards, gilt spine with two red morocco labels. Volumina iii. Folio. collation: [)(]4 )( )(4 )( )( )(4 a-i4 (g1 + c2) A4 c2 B-Z4 Aa-Zz4 3A2: 238 ff., paginated (xxiv) (i) ii-l (4) li-lxxii (1) 2-8 (4) 9-337 (35), + 26 engraved plates (the two unsigned bifolia, following g1 and A4, are letterpress tables, the first one oversize and folded). Roman and italic types; title-page printed in red and black. Frontispiece, large folding map, sixteen double-page plates, eight single-page plates, eighteen headpieces, culs-de-lampe and text illustrations, and six initials, engraved by Andreas & Joseph Schmuzer, Abraham Kaltschmidt and Gottfried Steinberg after designs by Antonio Beduzzi, Franz Joseph Weis, Jonas Friburg, Johann Heinrich Meyer von Winterthur, B. Beauson and Laurentius Gumpp.

The first edition of the first book of this important genealogical history of the Habsburg dynasty. Herrgott, rather than delving into the pursuit of spurious ancestral lines tracing back to Imperial Rome, or even Troy, carefully explicated the connections between the Habsburg and Lorraine families in order to demonstrate the legitimacy of their territorial claims, a crucial effort in the era of the Pragmatic Sanction, when the Habsburgs faced a series of territorial challenges from their political rivals. He made extensive use of primary sources, citing some 954 original documents from the period his work covers, the years 744-1471. His methodology was influential, serving as a model for other dynastic histories of the period; it would not be an exaggeration to say that this work marked a significant turning point for the genre. The first book, present here, contains the narrative of Herrgott's argument; it is a lavish production, extensively illustrated with engraved plates and illustrations depicting historic Habsburg properties, seals and documents. The second book, not present in this set, is printed in two volumes (hence the somewhat confusing wording of the half-title); it gives annotated transcriptions for all of the documents to which Herrgott makes reference in book one. Herrgott continued his work in three additional volumes, published under the title Monumenta augustæ domus Austriacæ; they appeared in 1750, 1753 & 1760. Marquand Herrgott (1694-1762) was the last of the great Benedictine historians active in the Austrian baroque. A native of Freiburg, he was educated at Strasbourg, Rome, St. Gallen, Paris and Melk; in 1715, he entered the Benedictine abbey of St. Blasien. Starting in 1728, he served as the diplomatic representative of the Breisgau to the Imperial court in Vienna; he was appointed Imperial councillor and historiographer in 1737, but was forced to resign his offices in 1749 after defending the rights of the church against the court. In addition to the present work, which was composed during his time in Vienna, Herrgott wrote a study of early monastic customs, and also histories of the diocese of Constance and the abbey of St. Blasien.

PROVENANCE: Edwin P. Rome (1916-1987; noted Philadelphia attorney; no indications of provenance, but acquired from his widow, Rita Rome).

REFERENCES: Brunet iii 134; Graesse iii 260; Joseph Peter Ortner, Marquard Herrgott. Sein Leben und Wirken als Historiker und Diplomat, Vienna, 1972, p. 57 ff.; Anna Coreth, Österreichische Geschichtsschreibung in der Barockzeit, Vienna, 1950, p. 44; Alphons Lhotsky, Österreichische Historiographie, Vienna, 1962, p. 122.

CONDITION: Occasional minor soiling, browning and staining, but still a handsome copy.