Instruction pastorale de Monseigneur l'Evêque de Barcelone, en date du 26 mars 1769.

Bookseller Notes

A remarkable survival, and two very rare pieces. In this pastoral letter Climent, Bishop of Barcelona, attacks the luxury and corruption of the Catholic church - thereby incurring the wrath of both Carlos III and Clemente IV - and argues for a return to the simplicity of the early church, as set out by l'abb Fleury in his Moeurs des Isralites et des Chrtiens. A special council was called to examine the work, but Climent was exonerated on the charge of sedition. Climent had been in correspondence with the Jansenist Clement of Auxerre, who wanted to publish the work in French. It seems likely that it was printed for him in France, and hence 'Se vend Barcelone' on the title. The two locations in WorldCat are also suggestive of this.The second Letter is on the choice of books to be studied in Theology. The works of l'abb Fleury are firm favourites, and in fact Climent had them translated into Spanish and published in Barcelona.