[Italy/Belgium. Extraordinary copy] Le scienze e le arti sotto il pontificato di Pio IX

Rome, Tipografia Delle Belle Arti, 1860, letterpress title page and introductory page by Pietro Petri, followed by 8 aquatint plates each with letterpress text page, contemporary gilt half morocco, oblong folio.

Here and there foxed (particularly the thin protective pages inbetween); surrounding blank margins with thin, trifle tanned edge (in blank bottom margin also waterstained); binding dam. along spine and corners bent. Nevertheless an acceptable copy of this work, with a very special provenance: Before the title page, a leaf calligraphed in black and red is inserted. This reveals that Pius IX gifted this book on 10 July 1860 (so in the year it was published and the year Cavour marched against the pope with his patriot army) to J.A. Van Steenkiste for his service as "Capellanus-ad-interim" of the "Zouaves Franco-Belges". A Wikipedia page is dedicated to this Jean-Aloys Van Steenkiste (1830-1913, important Catholic author) supporting the claim: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Aloys_Van_Steenkiste. Van Steenkiste was called back to Belgium already on 4 August 1860; barely in time for in September the papel army was massacred at the Battle of Castelfidardo. He subsequently became Professor at the Bruges Seminary. See also: N.-N. Huyghebaert O.S.B., "La carrière militaire de l'exégète brugeois Jean-Aloys Van Steenkiste", in: Annales de la Société d'Émulation de Bruges, tome XCIX, 1962, pp. 109-116.