Giovio, Dialogo dell'imprese militari et amorose, Venice, 1557, old calf

GIOVO, PAOLO. Dialogo dell'imprese militari et amorose di monsignor Giovio vescovo di Nocera, con un ragionamento di Lodovico Domenichi nel medesimo soggetto. Venice: Gabriele Giolito de Ferrari, 1557

Giovio's emblem book, a dialogue between himself and Lodovico Domenichi, was first printed posthumously in Rome in 1555, and Giolito's 1556 edition (reprinted in 1557) additionally contains Domenichi's commentary on the emblems, though without any illustrations. Giovio (1483-1552) was a friend of Alciati, and this work is often considered the first work on imprese (devices).

8vo (145 x 94 mm). Italic type, 29 lines plus headline. Collation: *⁸ A-I⁸: 80 leaves. First word of title within woodcut cartouche, woodcut printer's device on title-page, woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces.

Binding: Late seventeenth-century calf (151 x 103 mm), spine compartments outlined with gilt fillets, red edges. (Extremities slightly rubbed, spine chipped at foot, small cracks to joints at foot.)

Provenance: A few old shelfmarks or inventory numbers. Acquisition: Purchased in 1991 from Ludwig Rosenthal. References: Edit16 21211; Landwehr, Romanic Emblem Books 336