Brunus Aretinus, Leonardus.

first edition, chancery folio and royal half-sheet 4to (250 x 188mm.), 72 leaves (of 74, without the first and final blanks), 29 lines, roman letter, 3- to 6-line initial spaces, illuminated: title with foliate border in blue, red, green and gold, four 3- to 6-line initials in gold on a blue, red and green ground with floral extensions, annotated in several early hands, nineteenth-century black crushed morocco, edges gilt, corner of title torn (piece retained) with slight loss to illuminated border, wormholes in margins of some leaves, dampstaining and slight browning, ink blots on one leaf, binding rubbed at edges

HC 1558; GW 5600; BMC vi 599; IGI 2188; Goff B-1234; ISTC ib01234000

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

First edition, the first book printed at Foligno. The only Italian printing towns with explicit earlier printing dates are Subiaco (1465), Rome (1467, possibly 1466), and Venice (1469); and a single copy survives of a folio pamphlet on St. Francis dated from Trevi, 1470 (IGI 1279). Johann Neumeister came to Foligno from Mainz, where he was almost certainly apprenticed to either Fust and Schoeffer or Gutenberg. In Foligno he came under the patronage of the papal mintmaster, Aemiliano Orfini, in whose house the two set up their printing shop. The partnership was relatively short-lived, with only two more books printed after 1470: an undated reprint of the 1469 Sweynheym and Pannartz Cicero, Epistolae familiares (Goff C507) and, dated 11 April 1472, what is generally accepted as the editio princeps of Dante's Commedia (Goff D22). Neumeister subsequently led a peripatetic life, printing in Mainz, Albi, and Lyons, where he died a pauper.

Variant colophon settings of the name of Orfinis, of his toponymic, and of the date are recorded. In this copy the readings are the misspellings "Ursinis", and "Eulginas" and the line break within the year is "millesimoquadringe[n]tesi- | moseptuagesimo".