Descrizione

Very Rare and Extremely Early Printing. THE FIRST PARISIAN PRINTING AND THE FIRST PRINTING OUTSIDE OF ITALY. It includes certain pseudo-Platonic dialogues never before printed, is only the second printing of the 16th century and the fourth of all printings. Truly rare, no copy is in the British Museum and it is mentioned only in Adams. Dedicated by Ficino to Lorenzo de’ Medici this printing was reproduced from the Venetian incunable edition of B. de Choris, 1491. A COPY WITH FINE PROVENANCE. Four ownership signatures are noted on the title-page suggesting that the book traveled throughout Europe during its first 250 years of existence. One of the signatures most probably signifies ownership of the book by Sir John Cobham who had been raised to the peerage by King Charles I in 1645. Very finely engraved and illustrated title-page with superb Renaissance decorative borders incorporating allegorical figures and a scribe at work; at the center, a very beautiful engraving of the printers at work at the press, very fine and ornate capital letters throughout in black with ornate xilographic decorations, occasional manuscript emendations in the margins in a contemporary Renaissance hand and with contemporary ownership inscription on the title. Folio (330 x 223) in eights, full antique calf incorporating double blind fillet borders on the covers enclosing roll tooled inner borders in blind with a large central panel incorporating decorated corner tools and inner rolled borders all in blind, the spine with wide raised bands, brown morocco lettering label gilt. cc. num. CCCLXXXIX (389 folio leaves) A very large, handsome, crisp and clean copy with expert and insignificant repair to a closed tear on one leaf. A copy with very wide and ample margins. The binding is in quite excellent condition with very little wear of evidence of use. A sympathetic restoration of the spine panel accomplished at some time.