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Very rare third edition of the first translation into Italian, with the coat of arms of the Gaetani family on both covers

BOETHIUS, Anicius Manlius.
Di consolatione philosophica volgare, nuovamente revisto & di molti errori porgato opera al tutto dignissima eccellente & bella. Don Anselmo Tanzo al pio lettore. Varie en le voglie, i stati & il valore ... (sonnet by A. Tanzo).

Title and fol. B1r within woodcut typographical border, some woodcut initials of which one historiated.

Title and fol. B1r within woodcut typographical border, some woodcut initials of which one historiated.

Title and fol. B1r within woodcut typographical border, some woodcut initials of which one historiated.

Title and fol. B1r within woodcut typographical border, some woodcut initials of which one historiated.

Title and fol. B1r within woodcut typographical border, some woodcut initials of which one historiated.



Colophon: Venice, Marchio Sessa, December 1531. 8vo. 17th-century full green morocco, gilt title on spine, double gilt filets along edges and gilt central crowned coat-of-arms incorporating the arms of the GAETANI (or CAETANI) family on both sides, interesting paper pastedowns with stamped and coloured floral decoration, red painted edges. Title and fol. B1r within woodcut typographical border, some woodcut initials of which one historiated. (8), 104 lvs. [Collation: A-O8].

Very rare third edition of the first translation into Italian of Boethius' philosophical and most important work De Consolatione. The first edition of this translation by Anselmo Tanzo was published in Milan by A. de Vicomercato for Bernardino Tanzo (a relative of Anselmo) in 1520; the second edition appeared also in Venice with Giovantinio & fratelli da Sabio in 1527. On the title of our edition (also present in the first and second editions) is a sonnet by Anselmo Tanzo, a Canon Regular at Milan. On the verso of the title starts a letter of Bartholomeus Lucensis to the Canon regular Innocentius Sagundinus, dated 21 December 1515, followed on fol. A2verso by a letter of the translator to his brother Giovan Jacobo Tanzo continuing till fol. A8verso.
Versions of Boethius' masterwork appeared in German, French, Italian, Spanish and Greek before the end of the fifteenth century, Chaucer made the first translation into English. Gibbon wrote of it as 'a golden volume, not unworthy of the leisure of Plato or Tully, but which claims incomparable merit from the barbarism of the times and the situation of the author.'
Anicius Manlius Torquatus Severinus Boethius (ca. 475-ca. 525), celebrated philosopher and pedagogue, Roman consul, and councillor of King Theodoric of the Ostrogoths, wrote his De consolatione philosophiae in prison at the end of his life when he had fallen into disgrace. In this very influential work he tried to establish a bridge between classical philosophy and Christian scholastic thought. All through the Middle Ages the book found a large number of commentators and imitators, inspired philosophy as well as literature, and was considered most suitable for use at schools.

Provenance:
Bound for a member of the Italian Gaetani (or Caetani) family, the alliance coat-of-arms on covers incorporating their crest at the right side (left side showing two lighthouses and 2 lions unidentified).
From the library of Lucius Wilmerding (1880-1949), the well-known American bibliophile and collector Wilmerding was a trustee of the New York Historical Society and the New York Public Library, a director of the Bank of New York and a president of the Grolier Club. His vast library, incorporating a large collection of Renaissance and other armorial and association bindings, was auctioned off in New York during 1950 and 1951.
Also with the 19th-century bookplate of F. Renard, and an annotation on the book by the well-known bibliophile Nicolas-François Haym (1679-1730; Nouv. biogr. gén. 23, cols. 663-4), who might have been the possessor of the book as well.

Very good copy in an attractive binding and with interesting provenance: with pasted bookplates of F. Renard and the famous book collector Lucius Wilmerding, and an annotation by Nic. Fr. Haym on the third fly-leaf.- (Spine sl. damaged).
Adams B-2297; Censimento B2695; Paitoni I, p. 176; The notable library of the late Lucius Wilmerding (New York 1950-1), item 120; Graesse I, p. 466; not in STC Italian; NUC locates only the copies at Harvard, Yale and the University of Missouri.

Related Subjects: 16th Century  Classical Antiquity  Philosophy 

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€ 4.950,00

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