Item #176 L’Ordre des Dames de la Croix de l’Étoile, établi par Sa Majesté l’Impératrice Éléonore, douairière de Ferdinand III. Habsburg Court, imperial decree.
L’Ordre des Dames de la Croix de l’Étoile, établi par Sa Majesté l’Impératrice Éléonore, douairière de Ferdinand III.
L’Ordre des Dames de la Croix de l’Étoile, établi par Sa Majesté l’Impératrice Éléonore, douairière de Ferdinand III.
L’Ordre des Dames de la Croix de l’Étoile, établi par Sa Majesté l’Impératrice Éléonore, douairière de Ferdinand III.
L’Ordre des Dames de la Croix de l’Étoile, établi par Sa Majesté l’Impératrice Éléonore, douairière de Ferdinand III.
L’Ordre des Dames de la Croix de l’Étoile, établi par Sa Majesté l’Impératrice Éléonore, douairière de Ferdinand III.
L’Ordre des Dames de la Croix de l’Étoile, établi par Sa Majesté l’Impératrice Éléonore, douairière de Ferdinand III.
L’Ordre des Dames de la Croix de l’Étoile, établi par Sa Majesté l’Impératrice Éléonore, douairière de Ferdinand III.
L’Ordre des Dames de la Croix de l’Étoile, établi par Sa Majesté l’Impératrice Éléonore, douairière de Ferdinand III.
L’Ordre des Dames de la Croix de l’Étoile, établi par Sa Majesté l’Impératrice Éléonore, douairière de Ferdinand III.

L’Ordre des Dames de la Croix de l’Étoile, établi par Sa Majesté l’Impératrice Éléonore, douairière de Ferdinand III.

Publisher: Vienne (Vienna): Jean Thom. de Trattnern, Libraire et Imprimeur de la Cour, 1783.

Illustration: Engraved heraldic title vignette; engraved plates of order’s insignia; decorative ornaments and tailpieces.

Edition: Court edition, printed by Jean Thom. de Trattnern, imperial printer, 1783.

Binding: Contemporary mottled calf, gilt-decorated spine with red morocco label, marbled endpapers (floral block-printed paper). Armorial bookplate of Count Alfred de St. Mauris, with striking heraldic arms and motto. Binding rubbed with small losses at head and foot of spine, but solid and attractive, with all edges red.

Description: Octavo, 64+ pages, with engraved plates of insignia. An official Viennese court printing detailing the statutes, meditations, prayers, and insignia of the Order of the Starry Cross (Ordo Stellatae Crucis), the most illustrious female chivalric order in Habsburg Europe.

Founded by Empress Eleonore Gonzaga (1630–1686), widow of Ferdinand III, the order was restricted to the highest-ranking noblewomen, rewarding loyalty to the Habsburg dynasty and Catholic devotion. Patronesses listed include Empress Maria Theresa, whose prestige and reforms gave the order renewed prominence. The work includes ritual prayers for the blessing of crosses, the reception of dames, and engraved plates depicting the evolving designs of the order’s insignia, with motto “Salus et Gloria.”

The book itself is a finely printed court issue by Jean Thomas de Trattnern, official printer of the Viennese court, combining Latin heraldic inscriptions with French text.

Condition: Good. Binding rubbed, corners worn, spine with small losses; interior crisp and clean, with sharp engraved insignia plates and bright printed endpapers. Armorial bookplate present.

Annotation: This volume embodies the intersection of religion, aristocracy, and female nobility in late Ancien Régime Europe. The Order of the Starry Cross was one of very few exclusively female orders of knighthood, symbolizing both dynastic loyalty and Catholic devotion. The engraved insignia plates make this not only a text of ceremonial statutes but also a visual record of Habsburg heraldry and court ritual.

The aristocratic provenance, with the armorial bookplate of Count Alfred de St. Mauris, strengthens the book’s prestige and places it within the libraries of the European noble class. A scarce Viennese imprint, seldom encountered outside institutional collections.
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Item #176

Price: $450.00

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