Vimercati, In octo libros Aristotelis de naturali auscultatione, Paris, 1550, tan morocco gilt by the Cupid's Bow binder for Marguerite de France
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December 10, 04:10 PM GMT
Estimate
70,000 - 100,000 GBP
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Description
VIMERCATI, FRANCESCO. Francisci Vicomercati Mediolanensis in octo libros Aristotelis de naturali auscultatione commentarii. Et eorundem librorum e Graeco in Latinum per eundem conversio. Paris: Michel Vascosan, 1550
A splendid royal binding on a large paper presentation copy of Vimercati's commentary on Aristotle. The arms are those of Marguerite de France, duchesse de Berry and later the duchess of Savoy, and sister of Henri II. She had a humanist education, under the supervision of her aunt Marguerite de Navarre, and was interested in Italian humanism, under the influence of her sister-in-law Catherine de Médicis. She employed and patronised scholars and men of letters, including Ronsard, Joachim du Bellay and Jacques Amyot.
Vimercati, from Milan, was a renowned Aristotelian scholar, who taught in Paris from 1540 and was appointed the first royal reader in Greek and Latin philosophy at the Collège de France. He followed Marguerite to Turin after her marriage, where he taught at the university there.
A very similar design of binding was made for Henri II by the atelier du relieur du roi in around 1552-1553 (Reliures royales de la Renaissance, item 87). The stamps are found in Nixon, Grolier Bindings, CB. 1, 5, 6, 23; Grolier's 1544 Marliani (item 112) has a similar ring of Cupid's bow stamps in the centre.
Guglielmo Libri, the notorious and prolific book thief, purloined thousands of books and manuscripts from French libraries in around 1840.
Folio (344 x 223 mm). Roman, Greek and italic type, 54 lines plus headline. collation: *4 A-Z6 AA-ZZ6 Aaa-BBb6 CCc4: 294 leaves. Woodcut initials, ruled in red. (Small repair at foot of CCc3v, occasional very light foxing.)
binding: Contemporary Parisian tan morocco gilt (352 x 240 mm), by the Cupid's Bow Binder, interlaced frame painted black and outlined with a silver fillet, central arms of France on a diamond-shaped inlay of black morocco surrounded by gilt fleurons and an outer ring of Cupid's bow stamps in silver, flat spine with similar black interlaced decoration, edges gilt, gauffered and painted. In olive morocco box with open upper cover. (Binding slightly rubbed, box quite worn.)
provenance: Marguerite de France (1523-1574), arms on binding — Guglielmo Libri (1803-1869), sale, Leigh, Sotheby and Wilkinson, 1-15 August 1859, lot 190 (described as the dedication copy for Henri II) — Joseph-Louis Léopold, baron Double (1812-1881), tan morocco gilt booklabel, sale, Boulouze & Jacques-Joseph Techener, Paris, 24-27 March 1863, lot 333 — William Alexander Archibald, 10th Duke of Hamilton (1811-1863), sale of the Hamilton Library, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 1-9 May 1884, lot 114, £126, to Bernard Quaritch — Édouard Rahir, red gilt booklabel, sale, Henri Baudoin & Fernand Lair-Dubreuil with Francisque Lefrançois, La bibliothèque de feu Édouard Rahir, Paris, 7-9 May 1930, lot 22 — A. Léonardon, Paris, purchased in 1939 by — Maurice Burrus (1882-1959), bookplate, sale, Christie's Paris,15 December 2015, lot 134. acquisition: Purchased at the preceding sale. references: BP16 114225; USTC 150586
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