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[WILSON, Matthew] SMITH, Nicholas.
Modesta ac Brevis Discussio…
Antwerp; Balthasar Moretus. 1631
£1250.00
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FIRST EDITION thus, 12mo., pp. 262 [i]. Roman and Italic letter, printed sidenotes; woodcut initials and tailpieces, printer's compass device within ornamental border to title page and recto of K12. A good, clean copy in contemporary sheep, Jesuit emblem within sunburst gilt and corner poppies on covers, skilfully rebacked, preserving most of original spine, all edges gauffered gilt. Early shelf mark and 18th C ex libris "Joannis Rabanus Holthaus Osnabrugiensis est possessor huius libr." on pastedown. 19th C ms inscription "This work was by Fr. Matthew Wilson, alias Edward Knott and Nicholas Smith, SJ. His memoir was deleted from the last vol. of my Biog. Dict of the Eng. Caths. Joseph Gillow," beneath. Armorial bookplate of Joseph Gillow, 1890, to blank verso of tp. First printed in English at Rouen in 1630, this is the rare first edition of the Latin translation. Written under the pseudonym Nicholas Smith while Wilson was in the Clink prison, it is part of a controversy between the English secular clergy and the Jesuits and regulars, concerning the latter's autonomy from hierarchical control. Matthew Wilson (1582-1656) was a Jesuit who assumed the name Edward Knott upon enrolment at the English College in Rome. Matthew Kellison (?1560 - 1642) was a priest who wrote 'A Treatise of the Hierarchie and Divers orders of the Church against the anarchie of Calvin', to which this is a reply. After the death of Mary, there had been no Catholic hierarchical government; mixed feelings accompanied its tentative reestablishment. The controversy centred on a decision made by the ordinary of England, Dr Richard Smith. Gillow writes that having "succeeded Dr. Bishop in 1625, [Smith] assumed the title of ordinary of England and Scotland as his predecessor had done. Shortly after his arrival in England, doubts were expressed whether the decree of the Council of Trent and the Bull of Pius V. had not rendered it necessary that the regular as well as the secular clergy should obtain faculties from the prelate. Though Dr. Smith was of opinion (sic) that they should, he voluntarily offered a general permission of such powers to those who had the approbation of their respective orders. This pacific suggestion was not accepted, and a war of words and pamphlets ensued". Kellison wrote in defence of Smith, but provoked the regulars by appearing to exclude them from the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Wilson replied from gaol, where he had been since 1629, later released at Queen Henrietta-Maria's request. The work, in seven chapters, considers inter alia whether it is possible to have a church without a bishop. Included are testimonies from theologians and academics who have read and approved Wilson's text. Robert Chamberlain (d.1638), a Franciscan Friar and scholar in the college at Louvain, claims to have found "a solid refutation" of Kellison's assertions in the book. There is also an appendix (not found in other editions) containing a synopsis.
Johann Holthaus of Osnabrück was Bürgermeister (Mayor) of the Buer district in neighbouring Gelsenkirchen between 1758 and 1759.
Joseph Gillow was the founder of the Catholic Record Society, editor of the great Bibliographical Dictionary of English Catholics and a leading authority on recusant history. The aim of his Dictionary was "to present, in the most ready and convenient form, a concise record of the literary efforts, educational struggles, and sufferings for religion's sake of the Catholics in England." Books from his library rarely appear for sale.
Allison & Rogers, vol. I, p.184; Gillow, vol. III, p.683-4, s.v. 'Kellison'; (English edition). Shaaber, W.115 records BL and N.Y. Theological College copies only, cf. STC 25779.
L590
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