Castiglione, Il libro del cortegiano, Venice, Aldus, 1545, contemporary morocco for Thomas Mahieu, Chatsworth copy

Castiglione, Baldassarre. Il libro del cortegiano del conte Baldessar Castiglione. Nuovamente ristampato. Venice: (sons of Aldo Manuzio), 1545

A magnificent binding for Thomas Mahieu.

G.D. Hobson described the binding as "green morocco" and assigned it to group IV in his classification of Maioli bindings, the "Dotted group", all with the TDM monogram. For more details on the Maheiu books in the Bibliotheca Brookeriana, see the introductory essay in the catalogue for the overview sale on 11 October 2023.

Folio (306 x 210 mm). Roman type, 40 lines plus headline. collation: *⁴ a-o⁸ p⁶: 122 leaves. Woodcut Aldine device on title- page and final verso (otherwise blank). (Light foxing to first and last leaves, title-page slightly frayed.)

binding: Contemporary Parisian dark brown morocco elaborately gilt (310 x 222 mm), wide border and centerpiece composed of leafy swirls and interlacing on a pointillé ground, lettered L.D. CORTEGIANO on upper cover and monogram TDM on lower cover, flat spine similarly gilt (with the gilding of later lettering removed since the 1958 Chatsworth sale), gilt edges, modern folding cover and slipcase. (Small repairs to edges of boards, ends of spine repaired, joints repaired at foot, later endpapers.)

provenance: Thomas Mahieu, monogram on binding — Spencer Compton, 8th Duke of Devonshire, armorial bookplate, sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 30 June 1958, lot 19, £3,000, to H.P. Kraus — Constantin Radoulesco, small CR ink stamp on flyleaf and at end — Nicolas Rauch, sale, Geneva, 18 June 1962, lot 39 — Bernard Malle (1929-2008), penciled initial BM on lower pastedown. acquisition: Purchased from Stéphane Clavreuil Rare Books, London, 2016. references: UCLA 328; Edit16 10073; Renouard 131/4; G.D. Hobson, Maioli, Canevari and others (London, 1926), no. XXV