
16TH-CENTURY BOOKS

[ENCOMPASSING THE REFORMATIONS]
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B-Bibles
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Turnèbe Tackles Hephaestion
Hephaestion. [title in Greek, transliterated as] Hephaistionos Alexandreos encheiridion peri metron kai poiematon. Eis to auto scholia. Parisiis: Apud Adrianum Turnebum typographum regium [colophon: Excudebatur Lutetiae Parisiorum], 1553. 4to (22.7 cm, 9"). [4], 95, [9] pp.
$1800.00
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First French edition of grammarian Hephaestion's work on Greek poetry as it relates to metrics and rhythmics, following the Florentine edition of 1526. The main text is printed in single columns in Greek using three different fonts, with two full-page diagrams following the text and an index in three columns; Turnèbe's basilisk device appears on the title-page and the text is adorned with a foliated headpiece and two decorative initials. Printer Adrien Turnèbe (1512–65) was chair of Greek at the College Royal in France and Royal Printer for Greek following Robert Estienne.
Evidence of Readership: Faint inky fingerprints appear in the margins and endpapers of a few leaves; a bifolium with one page of Greek notes in an early hand has been laid in at back.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Adams H287; Brunet, III, 104; Hoffmann, Bibliographisches Lexicon der gesammten Literatur der Griechen, II, p. 203; Schweiger, I, 133. On Turnèbe, see: Renouard, Imprimeurs parisiens. 18th-century polished calf, spine with raised band and lettered in blind, covers framed in gilt double fillets, board edges with arabesque roll in blind, all edges speckled red; rubbed and scuffed, hinges/joints cracked but boards firmly attached, glue action to first and last few leaves. Light pencilling on endpapers. Light age-toning, small marginal worm tracks not affecting text; marginal waterstaining through perhaps a third of text, two untrimmed edges and a few instances of spotting, dust-soiling, or staining. Provenance and readership indications as above. A well-crafted textbook. (38388)

Early Editions of Two Titans, in Greek
Herodotus. [two lines in Greek, romanized as ] Erodotou logoi ennea, oiper epikalountai mousai [then in Latin] Herodoti libri novem, qvibvs mvsarvm indita svnt nomina ... Basiliae: In officina Heruagiana, 1541 [colophon date]. Median folio (32.5 cm, 12.75"). [10] ff., 310 pp., [1] f. [bound with] Thucydides. [three lines in Greek, romanized as ] Thoukydides meta scholion palaion kai pany ophelimon choris hon ho syngrapheus poly aneucheres esti [then in Latin] Thucydides cum scholiis et antiquis et utilibus sine quibus autor intellectu multum est difficilis. Accessit praeterea diligentia Ioachimi Camerarij, in castigando tum textu, tum commentarijs un[am] cum annotationibus eius. Stephanus Schirotius Pannonius lectori. Basileae: Ex officina Hervagiana, 1540. Median folio [12] ff., 225, [3], 177 [i.e., 178] pp., [2] ff.
$5750.00
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Only the second edition of Herodotus in the original Greek, the editio princeps having appeared in 1502 from the Aldine press. This is the first edition edited by Joachim Camerarius (1500–74), containing his Latin-language preface and notes before the main text and ending with the historical narration, from the battle of Mantinea (362 B.C.) onwards, of Gemistus Plethon (ca. 1355–1452). Herwagen's Greek type is handsome and, unlike his 1540 printing of Thucydides with which it is bound here, it has no woodcut initials, the printer having opted for guide letters in the initial spaces only.
This Camerarius edition of Thucydides is only the third printing of the text in the original Greek, following the Aldine printing in 1502 and the Giunta in 1526. It is also the first printing of the Greek text outside of Italy. As with his Herodotus, Camerarius' preface here is in Latin while the rest of the text is in Greek only. There are two states of the title-page, this copy with “PANNO/nius” on its title-page; another is noted as having “PAN/nonius.” And in contrast to the Herodotus, this Thucydides has very interesting woodcut initials.
The pairing of these two texts is not uncommon but they are also found separately in contemporary bindings, indicating that in the 1540s they were sold both individually and as a pair.
Provenance: Pasted in the top margin of Herodotus is a slip reading “Ex libris Joannis Adami Messerschmid 1770.” Later in the library of the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School (properly deaccessioned).
Binding: Recent full calf by Starr bindery, raised bands to spine accented with gilt rules, and a gilt green spine label; interesting but modest blind tooling on the covers in a 16th-century style.
Previous Binding: Deteriorated but preserved in a separate blue cloth clamshell case: Boards covered in calf with a center gilt device accomplished with a single stamp used dos á dos Visible under the pastedowns and on the back of the preserved but incomplete spine covering are scraps of a medieval manuscript. Also visible on the front pastedown is a curious embossing, possibly intentional and possibly the impression of something once pressed long and hard between cover and text block.
Herodotus: Adams H395; VD16 H2507& G1079; Dibdin, Greek and Latin Classics, II, 19–20; Schweiger, I, 138; Graesse, III, 254. Thucydides: VD16 T1114; Adams T664; Graesse, VII, 148; Schoell, II, 166; Adams T664; Schweiger, I, 325; Dibdin, Greek and Latin Classics, II, 506. Bound as above; text with occasional, generally light instances of soiling, staining, or spotting, this most notable at beginning (including Herodotus title-page) and at end of volume. Minor pinhole type worming in lower margin of both works (three or four very determined pests, who thankfully did not
meander).
A handsome and wide-margined copy. (40952)

One of the Great Catholic Leaders of His Day — A Polish Statesman & Revered Bishop
Hosius, Stanislaus. Opera omnia hactenus edita, in unum corpus collecta, ac nuperrimè ab ipso auctore recognita, & supra omnes alias editiones aucta, cura & opera Alemanii Fini Cremensis excusa. Adiunctae sunt praetereà Recantationes Fabiani Quadrantini, Braunsbergae in collegio societatis Iesu recitatae. Saluo in omnibus sanctae sedis Apostolicae iudicio. Venetiis: Apud Dominicum Nicolinum, 1573. Folio (33.3 cm, 13.11"). [24] pp., 193, [2], [194]–365, [13] ff.
$700.00
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Uncommon Venetian edition (and the first from this editor) of the collected works of Cardinal Hosius (1504–79), Prince-Bishop of Ermland (Warmia), an illustrious Polish statesman as well as a candidate for canonization. According to Peter Canisius (as quoted by the Catholic Encyclopedia) Hosius was “the most brilliant writer, the most eminent theologian and the best bishop of his times.”
Hosius's Opera omnia was first published in 1562, and first printed in this version edited by Alemanio Fino in Venice in 1573 by Domenico Nicolini da Sabbio; it appeared in two variants in that year, one bearing Francesco de Francesci's imprint and the other — as seen here — Nicolini's own, with
a title-page vignette of a winged woman with laurel wreath and palm branch, giving his “Nisi qui legitime certaverit” motto. The Confutatio prolegomenon Brentii, De expresso Dei verbo, and Palinodiae sive recantationes Fabiani Quadrantini have separate title-pages, and the registrum at the back bears the same printer's vignette.
A search of WorldCat finds
no holdings of this edition reported by U.S. institutions.
Provenance: Title-page with early inked inscription reading “Carthusia Romanas” and with rubber-stamp of Carthusian monastery St. Hugh's, Parkminster.
Adams H1024; CNCE 22786. This ed. not in Brunet. 19th-century quarter tan sheep and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped black leather title-label; rubbed, leather with spots of staining and small insect holes, hinges (inside) cracked but holding strongly. Title-page with inscription and stamp as above, and with additional indecipherable (19th-century?) rubber-stamp; a scattering of shouldernotes and text corrections inked in an early hand. One leaf with upper outer corner torn away, with loss of a few letters; one leaf with small burn holes in outer margin, touching one shouldernote; most leaves clean, with intermittent, widely varying foxing, some leaves browned.
A sturdy, well-produced, and worthwhile volume NOT generally available. (41278)

Narrow Escape! Dangerous Publication
Surreptitiously Printed & a Pseudonym Used
Hotman, François. De furoribus Gallicis, horrenda & indigna Amirallij Castillionei, nobilium atq[ue]; illustrium virorum caede, scelerata ac inaudita piorum strage passim edita per complures Galliae ciuitates, sine vllo discrimine generis, sexus, aetatis & conditionis hominum: vera & simplex narratio. Edimburgi [i.e., London: Printed by Henry Bynneman], 1573. 8vo (15.7 cm; 6.125"). CCXII [i.e., 212] pp.
$3250.00
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One of six different editions printed in 1573 describing the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre as told by an enraged French Huguenot jurist who unintentionally avoided it due to a teaching assignment at the University of Bourges. According to the ESTC, the six editions were produced by four printers, one edition in Basel by T. Guarin, one in La Rochelle by B. Berton, and four in London by Henry Bynneman or W. Williamson, all but one bearing a false location. This offering is an altered version of an earlier printing with two leaves reprinted and one reimposed to remove any mention of Bynneman.
Hotman here writes under the pseudonym of Ernestus Varamundus, although the work is also sometimes erroneously attributed to Théodore de Bèze and Hubert Languet. In England, Hotman was the main narrative source for the first, “historical” portion of Marlowe's The Massacre at Paris (Paul Kocher, PMLA {1941}, 349–68).
Binding: Early 19th-century speckled calf, spine compartments gilt-stamped and one with a gilt red leather label; covers with gilt double rules, board edges and turn-ins with gilt single rules, all edges gilt. Signed with stamp by Roger de Coverly, an apprentice of Zaehnsdorf.
A very pretty “container” for some very un-pretty history.
Provenance: Armorial bookplate of the Marquess of Bute's Cardiff Castle on front pastedown; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
A rather uncommon edition, with searches of WorldCat, NUC, and COPAC revealing only one U.S. copy (Huntington Library).
ESTC S104240; STC 13845. Bound as above, gentle rubbing, leather a little flaking, joints refurbished and covers solidly attached. Bookplate as above; title-page dust-soiled with one small inked word, a faded ownership signature, one small pencil mark. Light pencilling and some chipping to endpapers, general light to moderate age-toning with an occasional spot and some pages unevenly trimmed; one gathering with very light, limited waterstain to lower margin.
An important work in an unusual edition and an attractive copy. (37745)
Royal Household Affairs
Partial Payment for Her Majesty's
Tapestry
Isabel I, Queen of Spain. Document on paper, in Spanish, signed "Yo la Reyna." Granada, 8 May 1501. Folio (31.2 cm, 12.25"). [1] p.
$4000.00
On the top half of this page the Queen orders Sancho de Parades, her chamberlain, to pay Germán de Paris and his partner Jacques 22,600 maravides remaining on the 78,600 maravides that she owes them for a tapestry. The woven piece is a gift for a church, and includes 12 depictions of the royal coat of arms.
On the bottom half is a signed receipt, in Spanish, dated Granada 8 May 1501, wherein Germán de Paris and Jacques acknowledge receiving the above mentioned payment.
The usual slash of cancellation (faintly visible above), indicating that this has been entered into the account books. Remnant of stiff paper at top of verso indicating it was once mounted in an album. (19360)
For our MSS in SPANISH, click here.
This also appears in the HISPANIC
MISCELLANY click here.

H. Estienne's Final
FOLIO Text
Greek, Latin, & Impressive
Isocrates. [two lines in Greek, then] Isocratis Orationes et epistolae cvm Latina interpretatione Hier. VVolfij, ab ipso postremùm regognita. Henr. Steph. in Isocratem Diatribæ VII: quarum van obseruationes Harpocrationis in eundem examinat. Gorgiae et Aristidis quædam, eiusdem cum Isocraticis argumenti. Guil. Cantero interprete. [Geneva]: Excudebat Henricus Stephanus, 1593. Folio.
[fleuron]4*6**4az6aamm6nn4;
AaLl6; AC6D4; ad
4a.4b.6 (-b.6, blank); [14] ff., 427, [1 (blank)], 131, [1 (blank)], xxxiiii pp., [1 (blank)], [4] ff., 31, [1 (blank)] pp., [9] ff. (without the final blank).
$2250.00
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Here is Henri Estienne's last major work and his final folio edition of any classical work. Schreiber considers it an “important edition” as did Dibdin. The text is Hieronymous Wolf's first published in 1551 as revised by Estienne, who also supplied seven Diatribae (Dissertations). These latter are found on pp. 331 at the end of the volume.
The texts of the orations and “letters” of the great Athenian orator (436338 B.C.) are printed in double-column format, with the Greek presented in exquisite Greek type in the inner columns and the Latin translation in roman type in the outer ones. A version of the famous Estienne printer's device graces the title-page.
Adams O219; Renouard (2nd ed.), Annales de l'imprimerie des Estienne, 155.1; Schreiber, Estienne, 225; Schweiger, Handbuch der classischen Bibliographie, I:181; Dibdin (4th ed.), An Introduction to . . . Greek and Latin Classics, II:126. 18th-century plain calf, recently rebacked; round spine, raised bands accented with gilt ruling. Gilt-tooled center devices in spine compartments. Two gilt-lettered spine labels. Title-page dust-soiled; a library's blind pressure-stamps; properly deaccessioned with no additional stamps.
A covetable exemplar. (2129)

The FIRST Work of Systematic Theology in EASTERN CHRISTIANITY
John, of Damascus, Saint (Joannis Damasceni). [five lines in Greek, romanized as] Ioannou tou Damaskenou Ekdosis tes orthodoxou pisteos. Tou autou peri ton en pistei kekoimemenon. [then in Latin] Ioannis Damasceni editio Orthodoxae fidei. Eiusdem de iis, qui in fide dormierunt. Veronae: [Apud Stephanum et fratres Sabios], 1531. 4to in 8s (21.5 cm, 8.375"). [8], 150, [4] ff.
$3000.00
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John, of Damascus (ca. 675–749), is a Doctor of the Church and was a polymath. His contributions were in the fields of law, theology, philosophy, and music; and it is thought that he may well have served as a chief administrator to the Muslim caliph of Damascus before his ordination.
His Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, present here in an edition in the original Greek edited by Bernardino Donato (1483–1543, a Humanist, philologist, Hellenist, and grammarian) is an 8th-century treatise that is
the first work of systematic theology in Eastern Christianity and an important influence on later Scholastic works. Among the numerous topics and concerns it treats are things utterable and things unutterable, things knowable and things unknowable, prescience and predestination. the reason God with foreknowledge created persons who would sin and not repent, natural and innocent passions, and the honor due to the saints and their remains.
The text is in Greek, preface in Latin. The title-page gives the place and date of printing but the other imprint data is from the colophon. The headpiece, caption title, and initial on folio 1 are
printed in red; the initial and headpiece are the only woodcuts in the volume.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Adams J274; EDIT16 CNCE 32951. 18th-century vellum over pasteboards, slightly yapp edges; lower 1.5" of title-leaf excised removing “Veronae” and “MCXXXI” and missing paper very neatly replaced long ago. All edges blue. A little dust-soiling, notably to title-page, some leaves browned, occasionally a trivial stain, a marginal note or two in Greek.
In fact, a nice, clean copy. (40719)

A “Golden-Mouthed” Aldine
John Chrysostom, Saint; Giulio Poggiani, trans. Sancti Joannis Chrysostomi De virginitate liber, a Julio Pogiano conversus. Romae: Apud Paulum Manutium, Aldi F., 1562. 4to (21.8 cm, 8.625"). [8], 64 ff.
$2250.00
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First Aldine edition: Chrysostom's meditations on the religious aspects of virginity, De Virginitate liber, along with a letter from Poggiani to Cardinal Bishop of Augsburg Otto Truchsess von Waldburg and a note to the reader. Essentially an extension of the papacy, the Roman Aldine press capitalized on its fame to disseminate — with great cachet — Vatican-approved texts in the publication war that was such an integral part of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation.
John Chrysostom (349–407) was one of the four doctors of the Greek Church and the foremost preacher among the Church Fathers, the name “Chrysostom” meaning “golden-mouthed.” The subject of some controversy, he fell afoul of the Empress Eudoxia and was exiled. Italian humanist and Greek scholar Poggiani (1522–68), secretary to Carlo Borromeo, led a much calmer life editing texts related to the Council of Trent, and even translated into Latin a catechism organized by the council.
The text is neatly printed in roman in single-column format with capital spaces with guide letters (unaccomplished) and marginal notes; the title-page contains the iconic Aldine device.
Provenance: Early ink signature “Alexii Feni” on title-page; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear of both the text and its clamshell housing.
Adams C1559; UCLA, Aldine Press: Catalogue of the Ahmanson-Murphy Collection (2001), 674; EDIT 16 CNCE 27775; Renouard, Alde, p. 186, 5; Goldsmid, Aldine Press at Venice, *546. On John Chrysostom, see: New Catholic Encyclopedia, VII, 1041–44. 16th-century limp vellum with title label on spine and evidence of ties; vellum wrinkled and stained, significant portions lacking on spine, edges of endpapers tattered with some paper loss and text block recently reattached. Housed in a maroon cloth clamshell with black leather labels. Light to moderate age-toning and staining with the occasional spot, several leaves with waterstaining to bottom corner or small marginal worm tracking; a handful of creased corners, a few examples of hurried paper manufacture, chipping to edges of first and last few leaves of text including title-page. Provenance marks as above, one early inked correction to a marginal note. (38092)

Editio Princeps Estienne Printing
Justin, Martyr, Saint. [in Greek, romanized as] Tou hagiou Ioustinou philosophou kai martyros, Zēna kai Serēnō, Logos parainetikos pros HellēEx Officina Roberti Stephani nas. Pros Tryphōna Ioudaion dialogos. Apologia hyper Christianōn pros tēn Rhōmaiōn sygklēton [etc., i.e., Opera omnia] ... ex Bibliotheca Regia. Lutetiae: ex officina Roberti Stephani typographi Regii, Regiis typis, 1551. Median folio (34.5 cm, 13.5"). [4] ff., 311, [1] pp., [2] ff.
$2000.00
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The editio princeps, printed using the first font of the “grecs du roi” (i.e., Claude Garamond's “gros-romain” font of the “grecs du roi,” as per Mortimer), and based on the manuscripts in the French Royal Library. Schreiber notes that its publication resulted in a “sensation . . . among the learned [that was] still remembered . . . over 40 years later” by Henri Estienne and noted in the preface to his edition in 1592 of Pseudo-Justinus.
Adding to the wonderful Greek typography, Robert Estienne has enhanced his text with gorgeous woodcut foliated and grotesque Greek initials and harmonious headpieces. “The edition was complete and published by Charles Esteinne after Robert's final departure for Geneva” (Schreiber).
Provenance: 18th-century bookplate of Beilby Thompson of Eserick (1742–99 ), who may famously be remembered for having gradually bought up and relocated the village of Eserick to move it away from his house. Later in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Binding: 18th-century calf in a modified Cambridge-style binding. The covers' central panels, stained black and outlined in a filigree roll, are surrounded by a wide frame of tan calf; beyond that, at the boards' edges, is a 1.5" outer border of sprinkled calf. Blind-tooled rules and beading articulate the intersections, with black(?)-stamped devices accenting the tan compartments' corners, in the speckled section, and with the chains connecting those devices to the innermost panel being also (sometimes?) blackened. The round spine has raised bands accented by gilt rules above and below each band, and a gilt-stamped label with the author's name abbreviated.
Renouard, Estienne, 79/2; Adams J494; Hoffmann, Bibliographisches Lexicon der gesamten Literatur der Griechen, II, 502–503, & 648; Shaaber, Sixteenth-century Imprints, J111; Armstrong 138, 222; Mortimer, French, II, 335; Schreiber, Estienne, 107. Bound as above, front board recently expertly reattached; endpapers chipped and front one with upper outer corner torn away.
A very nice, very wide-margined copy. (40074)

Grynaeus's Edition Three Maps
Justinus, Marcus Junianus; & Pompeius Trogus. Justini ex Trogo Pompeio historia diligentissime nunc quidem supra omnes omnium hactenus aeditiones recognita, et ab innumeris mendis - vetusti exemplaris beneficio purgata. Huic accessit commentariolus. Basilae: apud Michaelem Isingrinium, 1539. Small 4to. [16] ff., 319, [1 (blank)] pp.
$2875.00
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Justinus (3rd century A.D.) is known solely by his Historiarum Philippicarum libri XLIV, which he describes in his preface as a collection of the most important and interesting passages from the voluminous, but now lost, Historiae pillippicae et totius mundi origines et terrae situs, that Pompeius Trogus wrote during the era of Augustus.
This very nice Renaissance edition was edited and has a preface by Simon Grynaeus. In addition to the text, there are an extensive index, four full-page woodcut maps of parts of the ancient world, and Grynaeus's extensive commentary. The main text is printed in roman with a good scattering of woodcut historiated initials and is accompanied on the same page by Grynaeus commentary and notes in a smaller italic. His preface is printed in a larger italic face.
Evidence of Readership: This copy has interesting, early, but now somewhat faded marginalia in a red or sepia ink. The marginalia is scattered and is at times heavy, other times light; in some sections, it is non-existent.
VD16 T2056. Full rich brown calf old style: Round spine with raised bands, accented in gilt rule; author and title lettered on cream-colored spine label; fillets in blind extending onto covers from each band to terminate in trefoils with blind double fillets beyond. Small rent in upper inner area of title-page with a very old and good repair on verso. Library name stamped on lower edge of closed book. (24808)

Chicken Soup for the HUGUENOT Soul?
L'Espine, Jean de. Excellens discours de I. de l'Espine angevin. Touchant le repos & contentement de l'esprit. La Rochelle: Hierosme Haultain, 1594. 12mo (13.7 cm, 5.38"). 758 pp., [5 (blank)] ff.
$875.00
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Early, uncommon edition of these seven essays on combating sin in order to bring peace and contentment to the soul, written by an Augustinian monk and correspondent of Calvin's, and edited and introduced by French humanist Simon Goulart. Here L'Espine (also known as Delespine, de Spina, and Spinaeus) expounds on
avarice, ambition, anger, envy, lechery, curiosity, and fear.
First published in 1587, this popular work found an audience among both Protestants and Catholics, and went through a number of editions in not only the original French, but also several other European languages as well as Latin. The present early French printing is handsomely accomplished, with nice head- and tailpieces and decorative capitals. WorldCat finds
no U.S. institutional holdings of this edition.
Binding: Later dark blue Jansenist-style morocco: spine with raised bands and gilt-stamped title and date, board edges with double gilt rules, and turn-ins with particularly elegant gilt dentelles. All edges gilt. Signed binding done by Hans Asper, with Asper's minute rubber-stamp on the front free endpaper.
Provenance: Front pastedown with bookplate of Swiss theologian, historian, and professor Gaspard Ernest Stroehlin (1844–1907), a notable scholar of Protestantism. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Index Aurel. 164.928; Pettegree, French Vernacular Books, 34461. This ed. not in Adams, not in Brunet. Binding as above, spine showing very slight sunning, lower back outer corner bumped. Bookplate as above, with small paper adhesion over one corner. Pages gently age-toned with scattered small, faint spots, otherwise clean.
A striking copy, with notably apropos provenance. (38345)

Humanism & the Early Church
Laurentius Mellifluus?; St. Lawrence, bishop of Novara? Sancti Laurentii presbiteri Novarum, scriptoris perantiqui, Homiliae duae. [Parisiis]: Prostant apud Michaelem Vascosanum, 1522. 4to (18.5 cm, 7.25’’). [31 of 32] ff., lacks final blank leaf (only).
$875.00
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The first edition of two homilies widely ascribed to one of the most venerated saints in Europe. St. Lawrence of Novara (225–58 A.D.) was a disciple of Pope Sixtus II, who appointed him archdeacon of Rome. Strongly committed to the poor, he was punished for distributing among them wealth belonging to the Church; his martyrdom, ordered by Emperor Valerian, was
slow death by roasting on a gridiron. His works and life, which had been in print since the late 15th century, were inspirational for the pastoral care and charity they advocated, with this edition presenting his homilies on penitence and alms and celebrating the pure principles, explained in clear, refined Latin, of the early Christian Church much admired by 16th-century Catholic and Protestant humanists alike.
A cataloguer at the University of Illinois dissents from the opinion of Bibliotheque National and other national libraries as to authorship and writes, “The two homilies De poenitentia and De eleemosuma, here ascribed to Laurentius, Bishop of Novara, are medieval compositions by an unknown author usually designated as Laurentius Mellifluus, who cannot be identified with the Bishop of Novara nor with Laurentius, Bishop of Milan.”
An elegant edition in Roman type, with historiated woodcut initials, including one of a bear chasing a boy and another of a very “busty” seraph.
Provenance: Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Evidence of readership: Occasional early underlinings.
WorldCat locates only one U.S. library (University of Illinois) reporting ownership.
Pettegree & Walsby, French Books, 77263; Moreau, IV, 461. 20th-century grey paper boards; edges sprinkled red. Text clean, save for a few scattered spots on title-page and verso of last leaf; wanting final blank. Lower outer corner of one leaf torn away, just touching one letter, small paper flaw to outer blank margin of one leaf.
A handsome Vascosan production. (40843)

Cortés Malinche & Montezuma
López de Gómara, Francisco. Historia, di Don Ferdinando Cortes, marchese della Valle, capitano varlorosissimo. In Venetia: per Giouanni Bonadio, 1564. 8vo. [8], 354 of 356 ff. (lacking fol. 1 and final blank).
$3500.00
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Following the achievement of the conquest of Mexico, Cortés did not know how to stop and rest on his laurels: He sought greater fame and honor and to do this embarked on several ill-conceived expeditions that added no luster to his name, and when it became clear that the king was not going to make him a viceroy, the slide down the slope was an unpleasant one. Still striving, he enlisted his chaplain Francisco López de Gómara to write a history of the New World that would include a laudatory biography.
The Historia general de las Indias (first published in 1552) is divided into two parts which stand on their own although clearly written as two parts of a whole. Part I is a history of events concerning the discovery and conquests of the New World exclusive of those involving Cortés. Part II is entirely dedicated to the telling of Cortés's role in the conquest of Mexico and subsequent discoveries.
In this Italian translation from the pen of Agostino di Cravaliz, López's “all-Cortés” volume stands as part III of the three-volume Historia, delle nuove Indie Occidentali, with parts I and II being translations of Cieza de Leon's Historia, over Cronica del gran regno del Peru and the previously mentioned part I of Gómara's Historia general de las Indias.
The text here is printed in italic type except the capitals, which are roman. The title-page is printed in roman and italic and has the woodcut printer's device.
Alden & Landis 564/25; Sabin 27741; Medina, BHA, 159n; Wagner, Spanish Southwest, 2v. 18th-century vellum over paste boards, soiled and a bit rubbed; red leather spine label, with a chip, and an old circular paper shelf-label. Title-page dust-soiled, mounted; small, narrow, oblong portion of blank area of title-page excised and filled in at an early time. Lacks folio 1 and final blank. Top margins closely trimmed, sometimes costing the running heads and folio numbers. (25767)

Cortés Historia in Italian — Signed American,
PROVIDENCE
Red Morocco
Lopez de Gomara, Francisco. Historia, di Don Ferdinando Cortes, marchese della Valle, capitano varlorosissimo. Venetia: Per Francesco Lorenzini da Turino, MDLX [1560]. 8vo (15 cm; 5.75"). [11 of 12], 348 ff. (lacks the title-leaf).
$3200.00
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In this Italian translation from the pen of Agostino di Cravaliz (first published with title Historia di Mexico, et quando si discoperse la nuoua Hispagna [Roma: appresso Valerio & Luigi Dirici fratelli, M.D.L.V]), López's “all-Cortés” volume stands as part III of the three-volume Historia, delle nuove Indie Occidentali, with parts I and II being translations of Cieza de Leon's Historia, over Cronica del gran regno del Peru and the previously mentioned part I of
Gómara's Historia general de las Indias.
The text here is printed in italic type except the capitals, which are roman. Leaves 292–96 contain
a brief study of Nahuatl and include lists of numbers, months, days, and years in that language.
Binding: American signed binding by Coombs of Providence, R.I., for John Carter Brown (ca. 1865), with his binder's ticket. Full red morocco, round spine, raised bands; author, title, place and date of publication in gilt on spine; gilt roll on board edges; gilt inner dentelles. All edges gilt. Gilt supra-libros of John Carter Brown on front cover.
Provenance: Ownership stamp of John Carter Brown on first leaf of preliminaries, supra-libros as above. On his death to his son John Nicholas Brown (1861–1900). On his death deeded to the John Carter Brown Library. Deaccessioned 2008.
Alden & Landis 560/28; Sabin 27739; Wagner, Spanish Southwest, 2t; Medina, BHA, 159n. This edition not in H. de León-Portilla, Tepuztlahcuilolli, but see 1692. Binding as above. Lacks the title-leaf; (therefore) first leaf of preliminaries with a John Carter Brown's personal ownership stamp and his bookplate on front pastedown. Waterstaining, barely visible in many margins and lightly across text in last half. Four leaves with very old scribbling (pen trials?) in margins. A treasure with a distinguished provenance, presenting itself in the classic fashion of a 19th-century “collector's copy.” (28914)
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