Cicero (Marcus Tullius) Epistolae familiares, the dedication copy, printed on vellum, 267ff. only (of 268, lacking HH4), Roman and italic type, with final blank, A2r illuminated border decoration of candelabra with flaming braziers, garlands of precious stones and winged putti (with slightly faded colours in places), the lower margin with two putti holding up an elaborate golden floral composition with circular crest bearing the arms of Sigismund Thurzó, the dedicatee, on the same leaf a 7-line illumination depicting Cicero holding a book, 15 other illuminated 6-line initials with filigree motifs in gold on a red, blue and blue-green background (3 with some loss of colour and gold), other alternating initials of blue and gold with printed guide letter visible, early ink scribbles and writing exercises to first, verso of penultimate and final blank ff., some soiling and abrasions to vellum, occasional marginal staining, first and last ff. slightly yellowed, 18th century calf, spine gilt in compartments with morocco label, a little rubbed, [Ahmanson-Murphy, 55; Renouard, Alde, 33:3; Van Praet , 550; A. Dillon Bussi, 'Le Aldine miniate della Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana', in Aldus Manutius and Renaissance Culture, ed. by D. S. Zeidberg, Florence 1998, pp. 203-204], 8vo, Venice, Aldus Manutius April, 1502. ⁂ Extraordinary copy, printed on vellum, of the very rare first edition. The extreme rarity of this volume is highlighted by Antoine-Augustin Renouard's comment in 1812 that he had been unable to locate a copy ('je ne l'ai pas encore rencontré', Annales de Alde, p. 54,). In 1817, at the sale of the collection of Justin McCarthy Reagh, a copy of Cicero on paper was bought for the enormous sum of £500 by another great Aldine collector, Thomas Grenville, prompting Thomas Frognall Dibdin to write 'What a price for an Aldus, not upon vellum!' (The Bibliographical Decameron, 1817, p.172). Only four copies of the vellum Cicero are known. One was finally bought by Renouard himself. In the sale of his books it was this Cicero which achieved the highest price, surpassing even the 1468 Justinian on vellum. A second copy is mentioned by Renouard in his Annales of 1834, which had been sold in London in 1791 and a third copy was in the collection of Angelo Maria D'Elci, which is today located in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana. Provenance: Outer edge of leaf kk7r with ownership inscription of Antonio Salamanca in whose hand there are also (practically illegible) notes on the verso of the final leaf. Other ownership inscriptions in Spanish, (difficult to read) on A1r and rear endpaper, probably dating from the 18th century. Some underlining, and manuscript notes in lower margin of Y1r ('ut te cupiamus') and Y2r ('Santo, Santo, Santo').
Cicero (Marcus Tullius) Epistolae familiares, the dedication copy, printed on vellum, 267ff. only (of 268, lacking HH4), Roman and italic type, with final blank, A2r illuminated border decoration of candelabra with flaming braziers, garlands of precious stones and winged putti (with slightly faded colours in places), the lower margin with two putti holding up an elaborate golden floral composition with circular crest bearing the arms of Sigismund Thurzó, the dedicatee, on the same leaf a 7-line illumination depicting Cicero holding a book, 15 other illuminated 6-line initials with filigree motifs in gold on a red, blue and blue-green background (3 with some loss of colour and gold), other alternating initials of blue and gold with printed guide letter visible, early ink scribbles and writing exercises to first, verso of penultimate and final blank ff., some soiling and abrasions to vellum, occasional marginal staining, first and last ff. slightly yellowed, 18th century calf, spine gilt in compartments with morocco label, a little rubbed, [Ahmanson-Murphy, 55; Renouard, Alde, 33:3; Van Praet , 550; A. Dillon Bussi, 'Le Aldine miniate della Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana', in Aldus Manutius and Renaissance Culture, ed. by D. S. Zeidberg, Florence 1998, pp. 203-204], 8vo, Venice, Aldus Manutius April, 1502. ⁂ Extraordinary copy, printed on vellum, of the very rare first edition. The extreme rarity of this volume is highlighted by Antoine-Augustin Renouard's comment in 1812 that he had been unable to locate a copy ('je ne l'ai pas encore rencontré', Annales de Alde, p. 54,). In 1817, at the sale of the collection of Justin McCarthy Reagh, a copy of Cicero on paper was bought for the enormous sum of £500 by another great Aldine collector, Thomas Grenville, prompting Thomas Frognall Dibdin to write 'What a price for an Aldus, not upon vellum!' (The Bibliographical Decameron, 1817, p.172). Only four copies of the vellum Cicero are known. One was finally bought by Renouard himself. In the sale of his books it was this Cicero which achieved the highest price, surpassing even the 1468 Justinian on vellum. A second copy is mentioned by Renouard in his Annales of 1834, which had been sold in London in 1791 and a third copy was in the collection of Angelo Maria D'Elci, which is today located in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana. Provenance: Outer edge of leaf kk7r with ownership inscription of Antonio Salamanca in whose hand there are also (practically illegible) notes on the verso of the final leaf. Other ownership inscriptions in Spanish, (difficult to read) on A1r and rear endpaper, probably dating from the 18th century. Some underlining, and manuscript notes in lower margin of Y1r ('ut te cupiamus') and Y2r ('Santo, Santo, Santo').
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
