Bibliotheca Brookeriana: A Renaissance Library Part V

Bibliotheca Brookeriana: A Renaissance Library Part V

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 1021. Ausonius, Opuscula varia, Lyon, 1548, northern Italian red morocco gilt.

Ausonius, Opuscula varia, Lyon, 1548, northern Italian red morocco gilt

Auction Closed

December 10, 04:10 PM GMT

Estimate

3,000 - 4,000 GBP

We may charge or debit your saved payment method subject to the terms set out in our Conditions of Business for Buyers.

Read more.

Lot Details

Description

AUSONIUS, DECIMUS MAGNUS. Decii Ausonii Burdigalensis viri consularis opuscula varia. Lyon: Sébastien Gryphe, 1548


This is one of a group of nine similar bindings, all found on small format Gryphe imprints of 1544-1551, with the same armorial of a tower surmounted by a crowned eagle; while this exact armorial is not recorded, it is most similar to that of the Novarini family of Verona. It has been suggested that these volumes formed part of a travelling library, as the books are all pocket-sized classical texts. For a full listing of the bindings, see Bibliotheca Brookeriana I, 11 October 2023, lot 58, where the present binding is number 1 in the list. For two further books from this collection, see lots 1158 (Martial) and 1212 (Terence). The books are mostly ruled in red, though if this was one similarly ruled, the red ink has now faded.

16mo (115 x 67 mm). Italic and roman type, 29 lines plus headline. collation: a-p8: 118 leaves (of 120, without blank leaves p7-8). Woodcut printer’s device on title-page, woodcut initials. (Occasional light browning, very small hole at foot of title-page, small stain on a7.)


binding: Later sixteenth-century north Italian red morocco gilt (120 x 76 mm), central stamp of a tower surmounted by a crowned eagle within a surround of interlaced gilt fillets with leafy decoration, spine gilt in compartments with AVSON in top compartment, edges gilt and gauffered, watermark of a lion in a shield surmounted by a cardinal’s hat. (Corners slightly rubbed, joints weak.)


provenance: Plausibly the Novarini family of Verona, arms on binding — "Del Marc[he]se Francesco P—", inscription on flyleaf (crossed through) — "Giovanni Merlini", washed inscription at foot of title-page — Giovanni Gancia, bookseller of Brighton and Paris, sale, Delbergue-Cormont & Librairie Bachelin-Deflorenne, Paris, 27 April 1868, lot 431 — Alde & Dominique Courvoisier, sale, Paris, 9 March 2009, lot 79. acquisition: Purchased at the preceding sale. references: USTC 150092; von Gültlingen V: Gryphe 1015; A. Hobson & P. Culot, Italian and French 16th-century bookbindings, item 40 (tentatively described as a French binding, with slightly different decoration)