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SCARDEONE, Bernardino (1478-1574). De antiquitate urbis Patavii, & claris civibus Patavinis. Basel: Nicolaus Episcopius, jr., 1560.
2° (331 x 216mm). Large woodcut city-view on title verso, printer's device on title, historiated and ornamental initials. With blank \Ka\k8 and without blank P8. (Some browning and spotting.) Roman binding of c. 1576 for Giacomo Boncompagni of gold-tooled dark olive morocco, Boncompagni armorial stamp at centre, demi-dragon device at corners, arabesque corner tools, gilt edges (rebacked, extending to tooled panel, some repairs at edges and corners, fore-edge ties missing, pastedowns renewed); modern box. Provenance: Giacomo Boncompagni, Duke of Sora (1548-1612; binding, 17th-century ink stamp on title) -- Walter Hirst (bookplate; by descent).
FIRST EDITION, FROM THE LIBRARY OF GIACOMO BONCOMPAGNI. Pope Gregory XIII not only recognised Giacomo as his natural son and had him legitimised, but he conferred titles on him, including Duke of Sora. Boncompagni appears to have assembled his scholarly library between 1574 and 1586, with the present volume joining the collection after 1576, when he was raised to the Venetian nobility and could therefore use the ducal crown as crest. The library seems to have remained in the family until the 20th century. Cf. M. Wittock 'Giacomo Boncompagni: heurs et malheurs d'une bibliothèque', Mélanges d'histoire de la reliure offerts à Georges Colin, Brussels: 1998, pp. 103-118. Scardeone's history of Padua is particularly important for its transcriptions of epigraphs, descriptions of monuments, and chapter on artists such as Mantegna and Squarcione. Its woodcut of the city is 'the first accurate compilation of visual data on the city's buildings' (Grove Art on-line).
2° (331 x 216mm). Large woodcut city-view on title verso, printer's device on title, historiated and ornamental initials. With blank \Ka\k8 and without blank P8. (Some browning and spotting.) Roman binding of c. 1576 for Giacomo Boncompagni of gold-tooled dark olive morocco, Boncompagni armorial stamp at centre, demi-dragon device at corners, arabesque corner tools, gilt edges (rebacked, extending to tooled panel, some repairs at edges and corners, fore-edge ties missing, pastedowns renewed); modern box. Provenance: Giacomo Boncompagni, Duke of Sora (1548-1612; binding, 17th-century ink stamp on title) -- Walter Hirst (bookplate; by descent).
FIRST EDITION, FROM THE LIBRARY OF GIACOMO BONCOMPAGNI. Pope Gregory XIII not only recognised Giacomo as his natural son and had him legitimised, but he conferred titles on him, including Duke of Sora. Boncompagni appears to have assembled his scholarly library between 1574 and 1586, with the present volume joining the collection after 1576, when he was raised to the Venetian nobility and could therefore use the ducal crown as crest. The library seems to have remained in the family until the 20th century. Cf. M. Wittock 'Giacomo Boncompagni: heurs et malheurs d'une bibliothèque', Mélanges d'histoire de la reliure offerts à Georges Colin, Brussels: 1998, pp. 103-118. Scardeone's history of Padua is particularly important for its transcriptions of epigraphs, descriptions of monuments, and chapter on artists such as Mantegna and Squarcione. Its woodcut of the city is 'the first accurate compilation of visual data on the city's buildings' (Grove Art on-line).
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Please note that the last leaf, P8, missing in this copy, is blank but for the printer's device.
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