Accademia Veneziana, Orationes clarorum hominum, Venice, 1559, contemporary limp vellum

Accademia Veneziana. Orationes clarorum hominum, vel honoris officiique causa ad principes, vel in funere de virtutibus eorum habitae. [Venice]: Accademia Veneziana, 1559

The Accademia Veneziana was established by Federico Badoer and friends in November 1557, though unlike contemporary academies its prime function was the printing of hitherto unpublished works; Badoer selected the Aldine firm as the best vehicle to achieve this. Paolo Manuzio was a member of the Academy and by January 1558 he was already obtaining relevant texts, and he consulted the other members on the visual appearance of the books which was to be simple and unadorned, with the exception of the Academy's device on the title-page.

Paolo left Venice for Rome in February 1559, and his departure combined with a decline in the quality of the books and pamphlets produced by the Academy, which by now was also acting as an official printer for the Venetian State. By 1561 the Badoer family was declared bankrupt and the Academy folded; however the trial resulted in the retention and publication of various documents about the Academy and its activities.

4to (208 x 148 mm). Italic type, 37 lines plus headline. collation: *-**⁴ A-Z⁴ Aa-Vu⁴: 180 leaves (**4, P3-4 and Vv4 blank, the latter used as a pastedown), with a duplicate of quire Tt. Engraved device (C5) on title-page, woodcut initial. (Occasional light foxing.)

binding: Contemporary limp vellum (210 x 162 mm), title lettered in ink on spine, stubs from two pairs of ties. (Binding somewhat rubbed and creased, spine split across raised bands, later front pastedown.)

acquisition: Purchased from Martin Breslauer, New York, 1982. references: UCLA 602.5; Edit16 74 (variant C); Renouard 275/23