First Venice edition of the Italian translation of Leonardo Bruni's De bello Italico adversus Gothos, an account of the Gothic War (535-554) between the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy and the Byzantine emperor Justinian. Originally written in Latin, it was translated into Italian by Ludovico Petroni (1409-1478) in 1456, circulating in manuscript for seventy years before it was first printed in Florence in 1526. The present edition, issued by Niccolò Zoppino two years later, is the second Italian edition. It is illustrated with a fine woodcut title border and Zoppino's woodcut device.
Leonardo Bruni (ca. 1370-1444), also known as Leonardo Aretino, was one of the foremost humanists, historians, and statesmen of Renaissance Italy. After serving as apostolic secretary, he was appointed chancellor of Florence in 1427, an office he held until his death. Although the present work is based largely on Procopius's account of the Gothic War, Bruni incorporated additional material and adapted the narrative in several important respects. Petroni's Italian translation helped make one of Bruni's principal historical works accessible to a wider audience.
With a round bookplate mounted on the front pastedown. The vellum is slightly soiled, with some loss of material on the spine affecting the manuscript title. The title page with a mostly removed library stamp, a water stain in the outer margin on the first few leaves and the lower outer corner of the last several leaves. Otherwise in good condition. BM STC Italian (1986 Supplement), p. 24; EDIT 16, CNCE 7676; OPAC SBN BVEE\010549; Sander 1425; USTC 817009; not in Adams.