.jpg?w=1)
Details
HERBERSTEIN, Sigmund, Freiherr von (1486-1566). Comentari della Moscovia. Venice: Niccolò Bascarini, for Giovanni Battista Pederzano, 1550.
4o (195 x 142 mm). Title woodcut of Herberstein arms, 6 full-page woodcuts and one large folding map of Russia, colored by hand (folding map with tears mostly along folds and expertly repaired, stamp erased from last plate margin). Modern black morocco antique, gilt edges, by Capé. Provenance: Baron de Bethmann (his sale, Paris, 9-21 April 1923, pencil note on verso of front free endpaper); Antonio Palau y Dulcet, Barcelona (bookplate).
FIRST EDITION IN ITALIAN. Herberstein's account of Russia was the earliest published account of that country, appearing first in Latin in Vienna in 1549. The illustrations depict arms and armor of Russian soldiers and transportation, including sleigh-riding, a portrait of Basil, Grand Duke of Moscow, and a folding map of Russia complete the set. While the plates in the present edition are reduced, reversed copies of illustrations by Augustin Hirschvogel in the first edition, the Jacopo Gastaldo map is larger and more detailed than the map in the Vienna edition; it is frequently lacking. Mortimer/Harvard Italian 229; Brunet III:108 (error in collation).
4
FIRST EDITION IN ITALIAN. Herberstein's account of Russia was the earliest published account of that country, appearing first in Latin in Vienna in 1549. The illustrations depict arms and armor of Russian soldiers and transportation, including sleigh-riding, a portrait of Basil, Grand Duke of Moscow, and a folding map of Russia complete the set. While the plates in the present edition are reduced, reversed copies of illustrations by Augustin Hirschvogel in the first edition, the Jacopo Gastaldo map is larger and more detailed than the map in the Vienna edition; it is frequently lacking. Mortimer/Harvard Italian 229; Brunet III:108 (error in collation).