Details
SANSOVINO, Francesco. Gl'Annali Turcheschi overo vite de principi della casa Othomana. Venice: Enea de Alaris, 1573.
4° (201 x 147mm). Woodcut title armorial, headpieces and ornamental initials, dedication in italic, text in roman type. Contemporary limp vellum decorated by Cesare Vecellio: ORIGINAL DRAWINGS IN INK of a sultan on the front cover and a Turkish swordsman on the back cover, spine lettered and with ink decoration, the fore-edge painted blue depicting a Turk in red robes, short title lettered at foot of fore-edge, remains of 4 silk ties. Provenance: Odorico Pillone (1503-94, Berès, Bibliothèque Pillone no.154, 20th-century vellum bookplate); (Paolo Maresio Bazolle); Sir Thomas Brooke (engraved bookplate).
ONE OF ONLY THREE BOOKS WITH DECORATED VELLUM COVERS AND FORE-EDGE PAINTING BY CESARE VECELLIO FROM THE PILLONE LIBRARY. The 16th-century library of Antonio Pillone of Belluno and his son Odorico once joined the familiy's other notable collections of pictures, medals and relics at Casteldardo. The library remains famous today for its 172 volumes with fore-edge paintings and decorated covers by Vecellio. A cousin of Titian and himself an artist, Vecellio was an intimate of the Pillone family, decorating Casteldardo with frescoes, and painting portraits of several family members. He praised Odorico Pillone warmly and lauded the collections in his book Degli habiti antichi e moderni di diverse parti del mondo (1590). Vecellio probably began decorating the fore-edges of books about 1581 at the invitation of Odorico, following closely instructions which may still be found occasionally written inside the books. The volumes decorated by Vecellio remained intact, passing to Paolo Maresio Bazolle in 1874 and then to Sir Thomas Brooke (except for 2 volumes retained by Bazolle). They were then sold by Humphrey Brooke to Pierre Berès, who published Bibliothèque Pillone in 1957.
The present book is of particular interest as it is one of 21 volumes bound in limp vellum with decorated covers, only 3 of which also has its fore-edge painted. The decoration of some of the covers is thought not to be entirely by Vecellio, but the pen-and-ink drawings on this Sansovino are probably his work. They are reminscent of Nicolay (Les quatre premièrs livres des navigations et peregrinations orientales), but they are more closely related to Vecellio's own work in Degli habiti, and represent an original interpretation not found replicated in either published work. As a description of Turks and the Ottoman Empire, the present volume formed part of Odorico Pillone's special interest collection on the Battle of Lepanto; he acquired relics of the battle and collected books to complement them. See Venturi's introduction to Berès's Bib. Pillone, and A.R.A. Hobson, "The Pillone Library," The Book Collector, 7, 1958, pp.28-37. BLSTC Italian, 606.
4° (201 x 147mm). Woodcut title armorial, headpieces and ornamental initials, dedication in italic, text in roman type. Contemporary limp vellum decorated by Cesare Vecellio: ORIGINAL DRAWINGS IN INK of a sultan on the front cover and a Turkish swordsman on the back cover, spine lettered and with ink decoration, the fore-edge painted blue depicting a Turk in red robes, short title lettered at foot of fore-edge, remains of 4 silk ties. Provenance: Odorico Pillone (1503-94, Berès, Bibliothèque Pillone no.154, 20th-century vellum bookplate); (Paolo Maresio Bazolle); Sir Thomas Brooke (engraved bookplate).
ONE OF ONLY THREE BOOKS WITH DECORATED VELLUM COVERS AND FORE-EDGE PAINTING BY CESARE VECELLIO FROM THE PILLONE LIBRARY. The 16th-century library of Antonio Pillone of Belluno and his son Odorico once joined the familiy's other notable collections of pictures, medals and relics at Casteldardo. The library remains famous today for its 172 volumes with fore-edge paintings and decorated covers by Vecellio. A cousin of Titian and himself an artist, Vecellio was an intimate of the Pillone family, decorating Casteldardo with frescoes, and painting portraits of several family members. He praised Odorico Pillone warmly and lauded the collections in his book Degli habiti antichi e moderni di diverse parti del mondo (1590). Vecellio probably began decorating the fore-edges of books about 1581 at the invitation of Odorico, following closely instructions which may still be found occasionally written inside the books. The volumes decorated by Vecellio remained intact, passing to Paolo Maresio Bazolle in 1874 and then to Sir Thomas Brooke (except for 2 volumes retained by Bazolle). They were then sold by Humphrey Brooke to Pierre Berès, who published Bibliothèque Pillone in 1957.
The present book is of particular interest as it is one of 21 volumes bound in limp vellum with decorated covers, only 3 of which also has its fore-edge painted. The decoration of some of the covers is thought not to be entirely by Vecellio, but the pen-and-ink drawings on this Sansovino are probably his work. They are reminscent of Nicolay (Les quatre premièrs livres des navigations et peregrinations orientales), but they are more closely related to Vecellio's own work in Degli habiti, and represent an original interpretation not found replicated in either published work. As a description of Turks and the Ottoman Empire, the present volume formed part of Odorico Pillone's special interest collection on the Battle of Lepanto; he acquired relics of the battle and collected books to complement them. See Venturi's introduction to Berès's Bib. Pillone, and A.R.A. Hobson, "The Pillone Library," The Book Collector, 7, 1958, pp.28-37. BLSTC Italian, 606.