Renaissance

1662Decameron Boccaccio Macon Black Death Bubonic Plague RARE Renaissance Italy

"Human it is to have compassion on the unhappy."
― Giovanni Boccaccio

'The Decameron' is one of the most famous novels of the 14th-century. Written by humanist author Giovanni Boccaccio, 'Decameron' is a collection of short stories and tales told by a group of friends who are seeking to escape the Black Death in Florence, Italy. The stories cover a wide variety of topics including jokes and humor, erotic love, tragedy, adventures, and folk and mythology tales.

This 1662 French edition of 'Decameron' was published in Paris and translated out of the original Italian by Antoine le Macon. Macon's French edition is the most important French edition and was the first to be made out of the original Italian!

Item number: #21389
Price: $599

BOCCACCIO, Giovanni

Le Decameron

A Paris: Chez Arnovld Cotinet, 1662.

Details:
· Collation: Complete with all pages
o [24], 967, [1]
· Provenance: Handwritten
o… Read More

4° (mm 204x138) ; cc. (8), cxxiiii, (4) [Errata e Registro]. Capilettera silografici. XVIII century brown half calf, gilt spine with raised bands, boards covered with coloured paper, title in gold on label, red edges. Light waterstains on the first leaves, light repair to the lower margin of the title-page, generally a very good, clean copy.
Provenance: XVIII century engraved armorial bookplate of the Martelli family of Florence, with motto "Sola virtus vera nobilitas", mounted on the front flyleaf facing the title; XX century ex libris on the verso of the front cover.
First edition.
Also in light of Mircea Eliade and Jack Zipes' studies about the "extraordinary symbiotic connection" between myth and fairy tale, Mariconda's Favole - featuring magic, enchantments, metamorphoses, fanciful beings, etc. - seems related more to the written history of the fairy tale than to the novella tradition (M. Eliade, Myth and Reality, New York 1963; J. Zipes, Fairy Tale as Myth/Myth as Fairy Tale, University Press… Read More

1562 Italian Renaissance Courtier Book Baldassare Castiglione Courtesan Venice

"Outward beauty is a true sign of inner goodness. Just as with trees the beauty of the blossom testifies the goodness of the fruit." ­– Baldassare Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier

A rare printing of Baldassare Castiglione's 'Book of the Courtier.' This work was an important portrayal of a European Renaissance court life and discussed elements of philosophy and customs closely associated with courtier life. Baldassare created a series of fictional conversations that resemble those encountered in a royal court. These conversations discuss humanities, fine arts, drama, classical art, mythology, women, humor, and love. This book was known to have a significant influence on upper class society in the centuries following its release.

Item number: #24053
Price: $950

CASTIGLIONE, Baldassarre

Il cortigiano del conte Baldassar Castiglione. Novamente stampato, et con somma diligentia rivedvto & corretto

In Venetia:… Read More

1644 Francis Bacon Sermones Fideles Essays Elzevir Economics Science Crime LAW

"Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly."
― Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon, one of the most famous English philosophers and scientists of the Renaissance. While most of his work deals with discovery, scientific method, and the scientific revolution, he did lean strongly toward Puritanism in his personal devotion.

An extremely rare Elzevier printing of Bacon's "Sermones fideles". "Sermones fideles" is the title of the work as a whole, but it contains four other works that come from 'The Essays'. Bacon discusses politics, economics, ethics, crime, law, and science all through the lens of philosophy. This work was translated from his 'Essays' which was printed earlier in English.

Item number: #1896
Price: $750

BACON, Francis

Fr. Baconi de Verulamio Sermones fideles, ethici, politici, oeconomici, sive interiora rerum. Accedunt Faber fortnae, colores boni et… Read More

Probably a pirated copy of the original edition published by Léonard. Printed without the frontispiece showing St Mark's Square.
Description: Contemp. vellum, spine lettered in ink. Vigesimo-quarto: 14 × 8 cm; pag.: 211, [2].
Provenance: Bookplate "Libro Liber. G H".
Ref.: BSB: 10882446, 10882435
Condition: Covers slightly dusty and with some spotting, spine title faded. Joints and endpapers in very good condition. Ink notations in a later hand on the history of this edition to front flyleaf. Pages slightly browned due to age, occasional small stains. Top edge a little dusty, small stain to fore edge and lower edge.
Notes: Around 1669, Amelot de La Houssaye (1634–1706) was appointed legation secretary to the French ambassador in Venice. From this period he drew the information for his "Histoire du gouvernement de Venise", an unsparing description of the political constitution of the city-state, published in Paris in 1676. After the publication, the outraged protests of the Venetian ambassador led… Read More

1587 German Renaissance BIBLE WOODCUTS Feucht Catholic Postil Cologne Pigskin
Jakob Feucht was a 16th-century German Catholic bishop who wrote an enormous postil on the festivals and daily prayers of the Catholic liturgical calendar. This particular 1587 edition covers the Winter months of the Catholic calendar, specifically from Advent through the first day of May. It is notable for being bound in the original decorative, vellum binding and features dozens of in-text woodcut illustrations!
Item number: #25507
Price: $1250
FEUCHT, Jacob
Der ander Theil, des Wintertheils der kleinen Catholischen Postill. Der dritte Theil, des Wintertheils der kleinen Catholischen Postill
Coln [Cologne]: Gervinus Calenius, 1587.
Details:
· Collation: Complete with all pages; 2 parts in 1 tome
o Wintertheils – [4], 340, [8]
o Sommertheils – [2], 543, [5]
Includes separate title page
o 40 woodcut illustrations
· Provenance: Handwritten
o Joannis Villinger, 1643
o Josephi Keller, 1716
· Language: German
· Binding:… Read More