Zantani, Le imagini con tutti i riversi trovati, Venice, 1548, contemporary Italian tan morocco gilt

Zantani, Antonio. [Le imagini con tutti i riversi trovati et le vite de gli imperatori tratte dalle medaglie et dalle historie de gli antichi. Libro primo. [Venice]: Enea Vico, 1548]

A survey of the Twelve Caesars from Julius Caesar to Domitian, through the imagery on the coinage from their reigns. Only the first book was published; though perhaps the second part was Vico's Augustarum imagines (lot 637).

The binding could be attributed to Venice, Bologna or Padua; the watermark seems to relate to Padua, and the border leafy staff stamp has also been associated with Padua (see Davis Gift 284, dated to the 1530s) as well as Venice (Davis Gift 338, ca 1561). The curved leafy staffs around the centrepiece are more typical of German bindings.

4to (225 x 160 mm). Roman type. 57 leaves (of 60, lacking title-page, section title to Otho and final leaf with device only), comprising three letterpress leaves (privilege and prefaces, with title added in manuscript above privilege), then twelve sections from Caesar to Domitian each with an engraved section title, letterpress text and engravings of coins, all engraved by Vico, with hand-stamped signatures. (Lacking three leaves, occasional light foxing, a few small stains.)

binding: Contemporary north Italian tan morocco gilt (230 x 168 mm), an outer border of a repeated leafy staff tool with corner fleurons and leaves, with a gilt Cupid stamp in centre within a curved leafy staff surround, spine with blind-stamped decoration, edges gilt and gauffered, stubs from four pairs of ties, watermark of three mounts in a circle surmounted by a cross (similar to Briquet 11912-11914, all Padua, 1540s). (Binding somewhat rubbed and worn at edges, spine creased and repaired at ends.)

provenance: Vincenzo de Giraldis, donation inscription on flyleaf (a Vincenzo Giraldi was a Florentine banker in the mid sixteenth century) — Felibien(?), inscription on flyleaf — note on inside front cover dated 26 September 1834. acquisition: Purchased in 2011 from Studio Bibliografica Rambaldi, Molinella. references: Dekesel V15 (under Vico); Edit16 40081; Mortimer, Harvard Italian 556