Veteris Graeciae Descriptio.
Florence, L. Torrentino 1551.
PRINTED ON ROYAL FOLIO PAPER (book block 402 x 259 x 50 mm.). 7, [1 blank], 432, [78], [2 blank]p. Fine allegorical and architectural woodcut title frame with the Medici arms.
INTERIM BINDING OF CONTEMPORARY LIMP VELLUM (soiled), contemporary manuscript title on the spine and bottom edge, evidence of four pigskin ties, edges gauffered in blind; spine lining from a medieval vellum manuscript.
First Edition of the first full translation into any language. Completed in 1547 by Romolo Amaseo (1489-1552), it remained the standard Latin version into the 19th century. Pausanias’ 2nd-century C.E. travelogue of Greece describes local history and legends, customs and superstitions, monuments and ruins, and remains an important source for modern archeologists.
A REMARKABLE COPY, substantially taller and wider than the regular exemplars printed on median paper. Jean Grolier’s copy in contemporary morocco measures 350 x 250 mm. I have found one large-paper copy in U.S. collections (Hofer-Harvard). In good condition (pale stain to the outer margins, foxing to parts of twelve quires).
¶Mortimer, Italian 364 (Hofer’s large paper 400 x 250 x 47 mm.; Harvard’s ordinary paper copy 350 x 230 x 31 mm.); Moreni, Annali della tipografia…di Lorenzo Torrentino 150-2,XIV (the 1547 edition is a ghost); EDIT16 CNCE 34583.
Price: $14,500.00