Bibliotheca Brookeriana: A Renaissance Library Part V

Vergil, Poemata, [Geneva], 1583, Roman red morocco gilt with arms of a cardinal

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.

Lot Details

Description

VERGILIUS MARO, PUBLIUS. Publii Virgilii Maronis Poemata. Novis scholiis illustrata, quæ Henricus Stephanus partim dominata, partim è virorum doctissimorum libris excerpta dedit. Cætera quæ hæc secunda editio exhibet, pagina sequente recensentur. [Geneva: Henri Estienne], 1583

The arms on the upper cover indicate that the volume was bound for a cardinal, possibly a member of the Giustiniani family, given the presence of the tower and eagle (though the eagle is not crowned). Benedetto Giustiniani (1554–1621) was made a cardinal by Sixtus V in 1586; Orazio Giustiniani (1580–1649), from a separate branch of the family, became a cardinal in 1645, working in the Vatican Library from 1630 and serving as its Librarian from 1646 until his death. The arms on the lower cover bear some resemblance to those of the Borghese family.

Henri Estienne's name has been crossed through on the title-page and in the preliminary leaves.

8vo (161 x 107 mm). Roman and italic type, 33 lines plus headline. collation: ¶⁸ a-z⁸ A-H⁸ [2]a⁸ [2]b⁴: 268 leaves. Woodcut printer's device on title-page, woodcut head- and tailpieces, few leaves still conjoined at fore-edge. (Slight browning, marginal dampstaining, small ink stains to o5-6, y7, H2, and [2]a5, 2 small tears to A2 with some loss of marginalia.)

binding: Roman red morocco gilt (166 x 117 mm), first half of the seventeenth century, a frame of blind and gilt fillets with gilt roses in corners, upper cover with central cartouche containing a tower surmounted by an eagle (perhaps the arms of Giustiniani), surmounted by a cardinal's hat with 6 tassels either side, lower cover with central cartouche containing a standing dragon surmounted by a dragon, spine with gilt eagle, dragon and tower stamps and lettered VIRGIL in top compartment, stubs of 2 pairs of red ties, edges gilt. In a modern red box. (Ends of spine neatly repaired.)

provenance: A cardinal, perhaps from the Giustiniani family, arms on upper cover — purple ink stamp on inside front cover mentioning Paris — [possibly Regnard & Silvestre, Catalogue de la bibliothèque du docteur Gratiano, Paris, 22 February-3 March 1844, lot 453, described as red morocco with the arms of a cardinal]. acquisition: Purchased in 2017 from Librairie Lardanchet, Paris. references: USTC 450966; GLN 3023