BOOKS IN ITALIAN
A-C D-L M-O P-Z
(“A”
is for “Arte”). Medina,
Pedro de. Arte del navigare. Venetia: Appresso Tomaso Baglioni,
1609. 4to (20.5 cm, 8"). A4 b4 2A8
B–Q8 R10; [7], [1 (blank)], 137, [1 (blank)] ff.;
illus.
$8000.00


Pedro de Medina’s (1493–1567) Arte de navegar (originally published in Spanish in 1545) was a ground-breaking work on compass navigation, and became a standard manual translated into many languages. Medina was famous as a mathematician and cosmographer, and the king of Spain placed him in charge of examining pilots and masters for the West Indies. This second Italian edition (the first was printed in 1554) was translated by Vincenzo Palentino; it has a title-page in red and black with a woodcut printer’s device, and woodcut initials, tables, and illustrations, many showing how to make celestial observations.
Also included is a woodcut map showing Europe, the Atlantic, and the New World.

Palau 159680; Alden & Landis, European Americana, 609/77; Medina, BHA, 123. Old vellum; red leather, gilt-lettered spine label; some staining, and chipping to edges and label. Old, careful repairs to interior worming occasionally cost individual letters (but never sense) or a little loss to an illustration. Old rubber-stamps and red and black ownership label on title-page; inked notations on title-page and front pastedown. All edges speckled red.

This entry is repeated in the
“MO” section of this
catalogue . . .
Campailla, Tommaso. L'Adamo ovvero il mondo creato poema filosofico.... Siracusa: Nelle stampe di D. Francesco Maria Pulejo, 1783. Folio (32.4 cm, 12.75"). Frontis., LII, 272 (i.e., 294), XX, 16 pp; 1 plt.
$450.00

L'Adamo by Sicilian poet and philosopher Tommaso Campailla (1668–1740) is a didactic poem that puts into memorable verse the principles of Cartesian philosophy. The engraved frontispiece is a portrait of the author, and the engraved plate is a portrait of the dedicatee, Michele Grimaldi. This work was first published in 1709 and regularly reprinted throughout the century.
Single-click
image at left
for an enlargement.
Rare: Only one copy of this edition traced via NUC Pre-1956, OCLC, and RLIN (at the Bancroft Library).
Quarter vellum with vellum turn-ins. Covers originally covered with gilt or marbled paper, now lost, exposing underlying paste boards—a rather interesting effect. Spine divided into compartments by gilt rolls; a tan leather label, gilt-lettered. Somewhat cockled. Pages untrimmed. Upper outer corner of title-leaf repaired with paper. Two wormholes through frontispiece, plate, and first three printed leaves, with a little loss to illustrations (which yet remain effective) and to parts of individual letters; some additional worming in the margins, not affecting text.
Carli, Giovanni Rinaldo. Della spedizione degli Argonauti in Colco, libri quattro.... Venezia: Appresso Giambattista Recurti, 1745. 4to (24 cm, 9.5"). [8] ff., 140 pp.; foldout map.
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Giovanni Rinaldo, Count of Carli-Rubbi (1720–95) started on a promising public career, but resigned his positions as professor of astronomy and navigation and as superintendent of the Venetian marine in order to pursue antiquarian and economic studies. In this work he elucidates from the Greek account of the quest of the Argonauts “various points . . . concerning the navigation, astronomy, chronology, and geography of the ancients.” In particular his interest in astronomy leads to significant notes at rear with reference to Halley, Newton, and others.
This
first edition is printed with handsome woodcut initials and headpieces in the Greek Classical style; the fold-out map shows Ancient Greece, Asia Minor, and the Black Sea.
On Carli, see Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed.,V, 339. Contemporary vellum over paste boards; spine with gilt title framed with gilt rolls. Covers somewhat cockled and vellum splitting along edges of covers with some scratches and staining. Pages generally clean with occasional traces of soiling or fine spotting; pencilled notation and inked ownership inscription on title-page. All edges speckled red.

The Dialogues of the
“Seraphic” Virgin — Catharina
Catherine, of Siena, Saint. Dialogo dela seraphica virgine santa Catharina da Siena: el qual profondissimamente tratta de la divina provide[n]tia: de quasi tutti li peccati mortali & de molte altre stupende: & maravigliose cose. [Venetia: Marchio Sessa, 1540]. Small 8vo (16 cm). [32], 224 ff.
$3285.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
St. Catherine of Siena (1347-80) at the age of sixteen took the habit of the Dominican Tertiaries and almost immediately mystical experiences became a part of her life, consequently making her a major figure in Mysticism during the late Middle Ages/early Italian Renaissance. Her “Dialogue,” or “Treatise on Divine Providence,” is a major document in Italian literature and is written in the beautiful Tuscan vernacular of the 14th century. It was first printed in 1472, but there were, in fact, few editions between that printing and this one.
This edition was densely printed in roman type at the Sessa Press. It has a large woodcut on the title-page of St. Catherine receiving the Stigmata and a small xylograph on the colophon page of the famous Sessa printer's device of the cat and mouse.
All pre-17th-century editions are scarce if not rare. Of this edition we trace only four library copies in the U.S., and this is one, deaccessioned, of that quartet.
Index Aurel. 134.030; Essling 739; Sander 1819; Shaaber C268. Later vellum. Library bookplate on front pastedown and rubber-stamp on closed bottom edges; shadow of erased pencilled call number on a front blank. Semicircular stain of varying extent (not ink, not water, not wax) to pages of central section and but a very few other stains; pleasantly clean. Early, excellent repair to margin of last leaf. (12228)
Ceschina,
R. E. Gli ordini equestri del regno d'Italia.... Milano: Casa Edit. Ceschina,
1925. Tall 8vo. 123 pp., [2] ff., 15 plts.
$200.00
Printed on coated stock and illustrated with 15 plates in full color, including gold and silver, of medals, insignia, and uniforms.
Original illustrated and printed wrappers, dusty and a little chipped.
Costanzo, Angelo di. Le rime...quinta edizione. Padova: Giuseppe Comino, 1738. 8vo (17.5 cm, 6.9"). 186, [6] pp.
$150.00


Fifth edition, following the first of 1712. Poet and historian Costanzo (150791) produced an excellent history of his native Naples; his sonnets are noted for their elegance and adherence to Renaissance structure. In this volume, Costanzo’s collected poems are supplemented with verse by Galeazzo di Tarsia; the title-page is printed in red and black, and a printed example of the coat of arms of Ferdinando Belvisi has been affixed to the reverse. Contemporary vellum, lightly soiled. Some worming to pastedowns and endpapers, with a few tiny holes to the title-page and dedication. Front pastedown with bookplate, front free endpaper with inked-out inscription. Pages clean, all edges sprinkled green.

Well-Done Facsimile — CALLIGRAPHY
Cresci, Giovanni Francesco. Il perfetto scrittore (Rome 1570). Nieuwkoop: Miland publishers, 1972.
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