Butler's Original Lives of the Saints - Complete Hardbound 7 Book Set

• Complete, hardbound, original series
• Widely regarded as the most authoritative & complete saint biography collection
• Organized by month and feast, 365 beautiful 19 C. engravings
• In print since 1759, revised and updated over time
• Distinctive gift of faith & inspiration

Rev. Alban Butler's ORIGINAL Lives of the Saints - Complete Seven Volume Set
January to December plus Appendices etc. - Hardcover - Illustrated -5100 pages
Vol. 1 - January and Introductory material
Vol. 2 - February/March
Vol. 3 - April/May
Vol. 4 - June/July
Vol. 5 - Aug/Sept
Vol. 6 - Oct./Nov.
Vol. 7 - December and Appendices

Very few published works require such a lengthy explanation of exactly which edition is being offered, in what format, and why, than Fr. Alban Butler’s Lives of the Saints. The reason is that there are so many very different books being printed under this author’s name and under this title due to it’s long history (the work is almost 300 years old) and its universal popularity.

Few Catholic books except the Bible, the Confessions, the Imitation, and the Summa, are as widely read. This book has also been extensively revised, altered, and updated since its original publication, with new editions, even 21st century revisions being made, that the time is ripe for an original, unexpurgated, and unrevised print version to be made available.     

This edition is widely considered to be the most complete and authoritative ever issued. It is the 1854 edition of D. J. Sadlier of New York, and in the Preface it gives its “pedigree.” The original was printed anonymously in London in 1759, after 30 years work on the project. The edition published by Sadlier is an exact replica of the Dublin and London edition of 1833. Being a scholarly work, but also a work deeply imbued with the piety and devotion of a priest’s lifetime effort, it is loaded with footnotes which comprise a significant proportion of the total text. 

Loreto Publications has utilized the recent development of OCR scanning to extract the original text and to put it into a modern, highly readable, and much larger font typeface than any of the old editions. We have extensively proofread the text thus generated, and have made the layout “user friendly” as the moderns so succinctly state. Features 365 beautiful 19th Century engravings added to this original unillustrated text.

The beautiful expressiveness of Butler’s 18th century grammatical and rhetorical mastery is not so far removed historically as to render it unintelligible to any ordinary 21st century reader. We are certain that our readers will appreciate the original work for its piety, beauty, and comprehensive scholarship.

A great man once said that “History is the laboratory of Wisdom.” And where do we find the best history? It is found in the lives of the saints, for it is through their lives on earth, lived within the union of Christ’s mystical body, the Catholic Church, that we see the only history that truly matters for all eternity.

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