Description

Herodotus. Historiae, translated into Latin by Lorenzo Valla and edited by Antonio Mancinelli, collation: A8, a-d8, e-x6, [142] leaves, text in single column, 45 lines, type: 26:110R, woodcut border on fol. a1r, including two white-ground insets, the upper depicting a satyr preparing to sacrifice, and the lower showing Hercules at the parting of the ways, same leaf with large woodcut depicting Herodotus crowned by Apollo, blank spaces for capitals, with printed guide letters, light foxing and browning, a few minor spots and fingermarks, short tear to lower blank margin of fol. r3, woodcut border slightly trimmed at top, numerous Latin annotations, maniculae, and other reading marks in two different early hands, a few marginalia slightly trimmed, pencil bibliographical notes on front pastedown, late 16th-century limp vellum, yapp edges, portions of ties preserved, some soiling to covers, folio (310 x 217mm.), Venice, Johannes and Gregorius de Gregoriis, de Forlivio, 8 March [not before 30 March] 1494.

A very good copy of one of the masterpieces of Venetian book illustration - the rare third edition of Herodotus. It was preceded by those of 1474 (Venice, Jacobus Rubeus) and 1475 (Rome, Arnoldus Pannartz).

The present book is rightly famous for having one of the finest woodcut borders of the fifteenth century, executed by Benedetto Bordone or Bordon (1450/55-1530), a celebrated miniaturist and designer of woodcuts, editor of classical texts, and author of geographical works, who headed a prominent workshop in Venice, in San Zulian. Born in Padua, Bordone moved to Venice in the early 1490s, during the city's reign as the greatest printing centre in Europe. Introduced in 1469, the new industry had grown with surprising rapidity, a circumstance which greatly impacted the then-dominant production of manuscripts and related professional spheres, as copyists, designers, and illuminators were forced to redefine their roles and compete with typographers and woodcutters in an effort to adapt themselves to a new era in the history of the book. In Padua Bordone had already been active in the production of illuminated incunables. He shuttled between different media for the duration of his highly successful Venetian career, consistently engaged in a fluid and fruitful exchange between miniature painting and woodcut design.

The beautiful border of the Herodotus is commonly associated with a smaller-format border found in Lucianus' Vera historia, the first book edited by Bordone himself. Herodotus' border is more elaborate and contains other motifs, including the two small birds in the right panel. The ornamental border also includes two white-ground insets, the upper one of a satyr resembling a scene designed for the 1499 Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (Lib. i, fol. e1r). The text is also introduced by a large woodcut of the author crowned by Apollo, stylistically similar to a miniature found in an illuminated copy of the Aldine Petrarca of 1501, now in the British Library. A re-use of the Herodotus border is found in a later edition printed by the brothers de Gregoriis, the Opera by Hieronymus of 1497/98.

As Essling states, "quant à l'auteur de ce chef-d'oeuvre, si l'on juge par l'élégance du dessin, par la précision et le fini de la taille, ce pourrait être le même artiste qui devait, cinq ans plus tard, fournir les admirables illustrations du songe de Poliphile" (Essling 735).

Provenance: Arthur and Charlotte Vershbow, acquired from Lathrop C. Harper, 1977 (ex-libris on the front pastedown)

Literature: HC *8472; BMC v, 345; IGI 4694; Goff H-90; Flodr Herodotus , 3; Essling 735; Sander 3376; L. Armstrong, "Benedetto Bordon, Miniator, and Cartography in Early Sixteenth-Century Venice", Eadem, Studies of Renaissance Miniaturist in Venice , London 2003, 2, pp. 591-643.

Lot 94

Herodotus. Historiae, translated into Latin by Lorenzo Valla and edited by Antonio Mancinelli, Venice, Johannes and Gregorius de Gregoriis, de Forlivio, 1494.  

Hammer Price: £13,000

Description

Herodotus. Historiae, translated into Latin by Lorenzo Valla and edited by Antonio Mancinelli, collation: A8, a-d8, e-x6, [142] leaves, text in single column, 45 lines, type: 26:110R, woodcut border on fol. a1r, including two white-ground insets, the upper depicting a satyr preparing to sacrifice, and the lower showing Hercules at the parting of the ways, same leaf with large woodcut depicting Herodotus crowned by Apollo, blank spaces for capitals, with printed guide letters, light foxing and browning, a few minor spots and fingermarks, short tear to lower blank margin of fol. r3, woodcut border slightly trimmed at top, numerous Latin annotations, maniculae, and other reading marks in two different early hands, a few marginalia slightly trimmed, pencil bibliographical notes on front pastedown, late 16th-century limp vellum, yapp edges, portions of ties preserved, some soiling to covers, folio (310 x 217mm.), Venice, Johannes and Gregorius de Gregoriis, de Forlivio, 8 March [not before 30 March] 1494.

A very good copy of one of the masterpieces of Venetian book illustration - the rare third edition of Herodotus. It was preceded by those of 1474 (Venice, Jacobus Rubeus) and 1475 (Rome, Arnoldus Pannartz).

The present book is rightly famous for having one of the finest woodcut borders of the fifteenth century, executed by Benedetto Bordone or Bordon (1450/55-1530), a celebrated miniaturist and designer of woodcuts, editor of classical texts, and author of geographical works, who headed a prominent workshop in Venice, in San Zulian. Born in Padua, Bordone moved to Venice in the early 1490s, during the city's reign as the greatest printing centre in Europe. Introduced in 1469, the new industry had grown with surprising rapidity, a circumstance which greatly impacted the then-dominant production of manuscripts and related professional spheres, as copyists, designers, and illuminators were forced to redefine their roles and compete with typographers and woodcutters in an effort to adapt themselves to a new era in the history of the book. In Padua Bordone had already been active in the production of illuminated incunables. He shuttled between different media for the duration of his highly successful Venetian career, consistently engaged in a fluid and fruitful exchange between miniature painting and woodcut design.

The beautiful border of the Herodotus is commonly associated with a smaller-format border found in Lucianus' Vera historia, the first book edited by Bordone himself. Herodotus' border is more elaborate and contains other motifs, including the two small birds in the right panel. The ornamental border also includes two white-ground insets, the upper one of a satyr resembling a scene designed for the 1499 Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (Lib. i, fol. e1r). The text is also introduced by a large woodcut of the author crowned by Apollo, stylistically similar to a miniature found in an illuminated copy of the Aldine Petrarca of 1501, now in the British Library. A re-use of the Herodotus border is found in a later edition printed by the brothers de Gregoriis, the Opera by Hieronymus of 1497/98.

As Essling states, "quant à l'auteur de ce chef-d'oeuvre, si l'on juge par l'élégance du dessin, par la précision et le fini de la taille, ce pourrait être le même artiste qui devait, cinq ans plus tard, fournir les admirables illustrations du songe de Poliphile" (Essling 735).

Provenance: Arthur and Charlotte Vershbow, acquired from Lathrop C. Harper, 1977 (ex-libris on the front pastedown)

Literature: HC *8472; BMC v, 345; IGI 4694; Goff H-90; Flodr Herodotus , 3; Essling 735; Sander 3376; L. Armstrong, "Benedetto Bordon, Miniator, and Cartography in Early Sixteenth-Century Venice", Eadem, Studies of Renaissance Miniaturist in Venice , London 2003, 2, pp. 591-643.

Terms and Conditions

All bidders accept full liability for bids submitted.

Please note that by submitting a bid you are agreeing to our Terms & Conditions.

Newsletter Signup

Keyword Alerts

NewsletterNewsletter