Condivi, Vita di Michelagnolo, Rome, 1553, contemporary limp vellum

Condivi, Ascanio. Vita di Michelagnolo Buonarroti raccolta per Ascanio Condivi da la Ripa Transone. Rome: Antonio Blado, 16 July 1553

First edition of Condivi's biography, almost certainly composed at Michelangelo's behest in response to the publication of Vasari's Lives and Michelangelo's dissatisfaction with its portrayal of him. Condivi (1525-1574) was a disciple of Michelangelo's and therefore knew him well; it is also possible that much of the text was dictated by the man himself, in particular the sections dealing with his rival Bramante, and it is also thought that Annibale Caro had a hand in its composition. Vasari and Borghini incorporated much of this into the second edition of the Lives (1568; lots 631 and 632).

Edit16 states that this work should have 52 leaves, with 6 leaves in quire L, not 4 as here. This must be the first state of this quire, as the version with 6 leaves does not have L3-4 foliated, and is ICCU's variant B. The text on L1r was expanded for the later issue to mention the writers Bembo, Sannazaro and others, and the main interpolation was to the text on L2r, before the sentence "Or per tornare alla notomia...".

4to (196 x 135 mm). Roman type, 29 lines. collation: *⁴ A-N⁴: 50 leaves. Woodcut initials, woodcut printer's device at end (initial on A1 and device with later burgundy colouring). (Some light staining or soiling, D4 torn at foot without loss, some small tears along gutter at end.)

binding: Contemporary limp vellum (190 x 147 mm), stubs from two pairs of alum-tawed ties. In modern half black morocco drop-backed box. (Binding slightly shrunk, upper hinge broken, lower pastedown almost detached, spine defective.)

provenance: Note on flyleaf in Italian dated September 1814 — Christie's, London, 26 June 1996, lot 61. acquisition: Purchased at the preceding sale. references: cf Edit16 13068 (with 52 leaves); Caroline Elam, "'Che ultima mano!': Tiberio Calcagni's marginal annotations to Condivi's Life of Michelangelo", Renaissance Quarterly 51 (1997), 475-97