Treatise on Purgatory and the Dialogue

New York, NY: Sheed & Ward. Very Good. 1946. First Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. First Edition (1946) , not directly stated, but First Printing stated. Very Good: shows just a touch of wear to the outside edges of the boards; mild rubbing to the gilt titles at the backstrip, but they remain fairly bold and quite easily legible; the corner tips are either soft or very mildly nudged; the expected faint tanning to the text pages; a convent library name and date rubber-stamped at the front pastedown endpaper and the same convent library information inscribed in longhand ink at the front free endpaper (the book was purchased at this convent's library sale, but there is no other or overt indication that the book has been removed from circulation) ; the binding is square and remains quite secure; the text is clean. Free of creased or dog-eared pages in the text. Free of underlining, hi-lighting, notations, or marginalia. A handsome, carefully used copy, structurally sound and tightly bound, showing mild wear and minor cosmetic imperfections. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo. (7.5 x 5 x 0.45 inches) . Edited and with an Introduction by Charlotte Balfour and Helen Douglas Irvine. Frontispiece portrait of the author. Language: English. Weight: 7.6 ounces. Rust-red cloth over boards with gilt titles at the backstrip. Hardback: Lacks DJ. Catherine of Genoa (born Caterina Fieschi Adorno, 1447 – 1510) was an Italian Catholic saint and mystic, admired for her work among the sick and the poor in her native city and remembered because of her writings describing both these actions and her mystical experiences. She was a member of the noble Fieschi family, and spent most of her life and her means serving the sick, especially during the plague which ravaged Genoa in 1497 and 1501. She died in that city in 1510. Her fame outside her native city is connected with the publication in 1551 of the book known in English as the 'Life and Doctrine of Saint Catherine of Genoa', which includes among other works her famed 'Treatise on Purgatory' and the mystical work, 'The Dialogue' included in this volume. She and her teaching were the subject of Baron Friedrich von Hügel's classic work 'The Mystical Element of Religion' (1908). Her life was devoted to her relationship with God, through "interior inspiration" alone. In 1551, 41 years after her death, a book about her life and teaching was published, entitled Libro de la vita mirabile et dottrina santa de la Beata Caterinetta de Genoa ("Book of the marvellous life and holy teaching of the Blessed Catherine of Genoa"). This is the source of her "Dialogues on the Soul and the Body" and her "Treatise on Purgatory" . Catherine's thought on purgatory, for which she is particularly known, and her way of describing it, is quite original. Catherine's writings were examined by the Holy Office and declared to contain doctrine that would alone be enough to prove her sanctity, and she was accordingly beatified in 1675 by Pope Clement X, and canonized in 1737 by Pope Clement XII. Her writings also became sources of inspiration for other religious leaders such as Robert Bellarmine and Francis de Sales and Cardinal Henry Edward Manning. Catherine of Genoa's liturgical feast is celebrated in local calendars on 15 September. Pope Pius XII declared her patroness of the hospitals in Italy. ; xii, 142 pages .