JACQUES DE VORAGINE: Legendario volgare, il quale in se contiene la vita de tutti li santi, de la sante chiesa approbati, di nuovo ordinato... Venice: [Aurelio Pinzi], 1557. - In-folio, dark brown half-chagrin with corners, spine ribbed, untrimmed (early 20th-century binding). New edition of the translation into the vernacular by Abbot Niccolò Malermi (1422?-1481) of "La Légende dorée", written in the 1260s by Jacques de Voragine, Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa (c. 1228-1298). Its original French title was "Ce qui doit être lu des saints ou histoire de la Lombardie", and it acquired the name "Légende dorée" due to its success, the gilded edges then being reserved for the most important books. It is a collection of accounts of the lives of Christian saints and martyrs (the sanctoral), as well as explanations of the major Christian feasts (the temporal). The current version of the work comprises 178 chapters, but various editions have been enlarged over time. This Venetian edition comes from the presses of the printer Aurelio Pinzi. Printed on two columns, it follows the 1554 edition and includes a vignette on the title, a full-page engraving on the verso of the last leaf, and 60 woodcut vignettes in the text. With 168 chapters, this copy came from the library of Francis Charles Massingberd (1800-1872), English clergyman and writer, Chancellor of the Diocese of Lincoln. It bears his signature on the title. Massingberd is renowned for his work on religious history, notably his The English Reformation, published in 1847. Rubbing from use, hinges cracked, head cover missing. Several wormholes, with damage to text. Tear without missing leaf 133. Light spotting, more pronounced on the last few leaves. Provenance: Francis Charles Massingberd.