Beschreibung:

Berosus. Berosi Chaldaei sacerdotis reliquorumque consimilis argumenti autorum, De antiquitate Italiae, ac totius orbis, cum F. Ioan. Annii Viterbensis Theologi commentatione, et auxesi, ac verborum rerumque memorabilium indice plenissimo. Tomus prior. Lyon: Jean Temporal, 1555
A set of forged texts attributed to the priests Berosus the Chaldean, Manetho the Egyptian, Metasthenes the Persian, and others, the first volume (only) of a two-volume, small-format reprint of the collection of spurious chronicles written by the Domincan friar Giovanni Nanni (Annius) of Viterbo (1432–1502) and first published in 1498. (On the reception of the book in France, see Lorenzo Paoli, “Re-Forging a Forgery: The French Editions of Annius of Viterbo’s Antiquitates,” in Faking It! The Performance of Forgery in Late Medieval and Early Modern Culture [Leiden, 2022], pp. 75–118.)
This copy was bound in Paris for Gian Federico Madruzzo (1531?–1586), a nephew of the Prince-Bishop of Trent, Cardinal Cristoforo Madruzzo. Gian Federico had studied at the Collegium Trilingue in Louvain and was destined for an ecclesiastical career, when his uncle diverted him into imperial service, and a military vocation. In August 1552, Gian Federico met the French and Turkish fleets near Gaeta, was captured, taken to Constantinople, and thereafter to France, where he was imprisoned in the tower of the Château de Vincennes. Upon his release, Gian Federico assumed command of the imperial garrison at Pavia, and in 1557 he married there Isabella di Challant (1531–1596).
While incarcerated at Vincennes, Gian Federico and at least two fellow prisoners diverted themselves by collecting books (see lot 15 for a volume acquired at this time by another hostage, Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld-Vorderort). Five volumes (including this Berosus) were certainly acquired by Gian Federico during his captivity: each is in sextodecimo format and decorated by the same arms block; three have the date 1555 lettered on their spines. The other four are:
(1) Gaius Iulius Caesar, C. Iulii Caesaris Rerum ab se gestarum commentarii Ad codicum uetustissimorum fidem summa diligentia castigati (Lyon: Sébastien Gryphe, 1549) — Gian Federico Madruzzo — possibly Cardinal Carlo Gaudenzio Madruzzo (1562-1629), post-mortem inventory (listing 1435 books in his library in Borgo S. Pietro in Rome), folio 250 recto (line 5): “Iulii Caesaris rerum ab se gestar[um] commentarij” (Archivio di Stato di Roma, Notai del tribunale dell’ auditor Camerae, Sanctes Floridus (1615-1650), no. 2991, cc.206-268) — Hector Marie Auguste de Backer (1843-1925); F. Lair Dubreuil & Librairie Giraud Badin, Bibliothèque de feu M. Hector de Backer, Deuxième partie, Paris, 28-31 March 1927, lot 3060 — unidentified owner - bought in sale (FF 3350) — Henri, comte Chandon de Briailles (1898- 1937); François, comte Chandon de Briailles (1892-1953); Maurice Rheims & Jacqueline VidalMégret, Bibliothèque de M. le Comte C. de X… Précieuses reliures armoriées ou ornées XVIe et XVIIe siècles; Manuscrits, Paris, 2-3 December 1954, lot 80 — unidentified owner - bought in sale (FF 162,000) — R. Zierer — Étienne Ader, René Boisgirard, L. Lefèvre & Claude Guérin, Précieux livres anciens, très beaux livres illustrés du dix-huitième siècle, Paris, 6-7 November 1968, lot 7 — unidentified owner - bought in sale (FF 3100) — Ader Picard Tajan & Claude Guérin with Dominique Courvoisier, Manuscrits et livres anciens, Paris, 11 December 1981, lot 8 — unidentified owner - bought in sale (FF 22,000).Geoffrey Hobson, Les reliures à la fanfare, Le problème de l’s fermé (London 1935), pp.44-45; Malaguzzi, op. cit., 1993, no. 20 & pl. 1; Culot, op. cit., 1997, p.150 no. 1.
(2) Dionysius Halicarnassusis, Dionysii Halicarnassei Antiquitatum, siue Originum Romanarum Libri X. Sigismundo Gelenio interprete (Lyon: Sébastien Gryphe, 1555) — Gian Federico Madruzzo — possibly Cardinal Carlo Gaudenzio Madruzzo (1562-1629), post-mortem inventory (listing 1435 books in his library in Borgo S. Pietro in Rome), folio 245 recto (line 9): “Dionysii Alicarnassei antiquitatum Rom:” (Archivio di Stato di Roma, Notai del tribunale dell’ auditor Camerae, Sanctes Floridus (1615-1650), no. 2991, cc.206-268) — London, National Art Library (Victoria & Albert Museum), Drawer 42.W.H. Weale, Bookbindings and rubbings of bindings in the National Art Library South Kensington, II: Catalogue (London 1894), p.27 no. 133; Malaguzzi, op. cit., 1993, no. 24 & pl. 2; Culot, op. cit., 1997, p.150 no. 4.
(3) Desiderius Erasmus, Apophthegmatum ex optimis vtriusque linguae (Lyon: Sébastien Gryphe, 1550) — Gian Federico Madruzzo — possibly Cardinal Carlo Gaudenzio Madruzzo (1562-1629), post-mortem inventory (listing 1435 books in his library in Borgo S. Pietro in Rome), folio 240 recto (line 12): “Apophthegmatum per Erasmum” (Archivio di Stato di Roma, Notai del tribunale dell’ auditor Camerae, Sanctes Floridus (1615-1650), no. 2991, cc.206-268) — Giovanni Todeschini (d. 1646) — Trento, Biblioteca S. Bernardino, A776.Claudio Fedele & Anna Gonzo, Incunaboli e cinquecentine della Fondazione Biblioteca S. Bernardino di Trento (Trento 2004), no. 1458.
(4) Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, C. Suetonii Tranquilli XII Caesares. Item Io. Baptistae Egnatii Veneti De Romanis principibus libri III (Lyon: Sébastien Gryphe, 1548) — Gian Federico Madruzzo — possibly Cardinal Carlo Gaudenzio Madruzzo (1562-1629), post-mortem inventory (listing 1435 books in his library in Borgo S. Pietro in Rome), folio 256b verso (line 1b): “Suetonius Torrentij tom; 1.” (Archivio di Stato di Roma, Notai del tribunale dell’auditor Camerae, Sanctes Floridus (1615-1650), no. 2991, cc.206-268) — Henri, comte Chandon de Briailles (1898-1937); François, comte Chandon de Briailles (1892-1953); Maurice Rheims & Jacqueline Vidal-Mégret, Bibliothèque de M. le Comte C. de X… Précieuses reliures armoriées ou ornées XVIe et XVIIe siècles; Manuscrits, Paris, 2-3 December 1954, lot 316 — unidentified owner - bought in sale (FF 25,100) Malaguzzi, op. cit., 1993, no. 18; Culot, op. cit., 1997, no. 2.
Two more volumes, both folios, also were commissioned during Madruzzo’s captivity, one for Gian Federico’s personal library, the other as a present for his uncle, the Cardinal, whose arms it bears:
(5) Antonio de Guevara, L’Horloge des princes, avec le tresrenomme livre de Marc Aurele (Paris: Guillaume Le Noir, 1555) — Gian Federico Madruzzo — possibly Cardinal Carlo Gaudenzio Madruzzo (1562-1629), post-mortem inventory (listing 1435 books in his library in Borgo S. Pietro in Rome), folio 248 recto (line 8): “Horologe des Princes” (Archivio di Stato di Roma, Notai del tribunale dell’ auditor Camerae, Sanctes Floridus (1615-1650), no. 2991, cc.206-268) — possibly Emanuele Renato Madruzzo (1558-1614), inventory of the family library, Castello Issogne, taken 2 January 1618 for his son and heir, Carlo Emanuele Madruzzo (1599-1658), folio 11 (line 9): “L’horloge des princes avec le tresnomme livre de Marc-Aurele in-fol. Paris 1555” (Archives historiques régionales d’Aoste, Fonds Challant, vol. 55 n°1, Conte di Challant - Inventari legali e pupillari, liasse 1 (1565-1590), doc. 1) — Saint-Firmin, Flavignysur-Moselle (Benedictine convent) — Nancy, Bibliothèque médiathèque, Rés. 494.André Markiewicz, “A propos d’une reliure de la Bibliothèque municipale de Nancy: le bibliophile italien Gian Federico Madruzzo (1531-1586)” in Mémoires de l’Académie de Stanislas (1999), pp.87-105; A. Markiewicz, “Quand la reliure s’invite au donjon de Vincennes” in À livres couverts: reliures du Moyen Age à nos jours (Nancy 2007), pp.21-26, no. 33.
(6) Plato, Omnia diuini Platonis opera tralatione Marsilii Ficini, emendatione, et ad Graecum codicem collatione Simonis Grynaei, summa diligentia repurgata (Lyon: Godefroy & Marcellin Beringen for Antoine Vincent, 1548) — Cardinal Cristoforo Madruzzo, armorial supralibros — Guglielmo Bruto Icilio Tirnoleone, Count Libri-Carrucci (1803-1869); Guillaume Libri, Monuments inédits ou peu connus, faisant partie du cabinet de Guillaume Libri (London 1862), Pl. 16; S. Leigh Sotheby & John Wilkinson, Catalogue of the reserved & most valuable portion of the Libri collection, containing one of the most extraordinary assemblages of ancient manuscripts & printed books ever submitted for sale, London, 25-29 July 1862, lot 458 — unidentified collector – bought in sale (£44) — Robert Hoe (1839-1909); Robert Hoe, One hundred and seventy-six historic and artistic bookbindings dating from the fifteenth century to the present time (New York 1895), Pl. 34; Anderson Galleries, Catalogue of the library of Robert Hoe of New York. Part IV: A to K: illuminated manuscripts, incunabula, historical bindings, New York, 11-15 November 1912, lot 385 — Joseph Baer, Frankfurt am Main; Leo Baer, “Aus unserer Einbändesammlung. IV. Französische Renaissance-Einbände” in Frankfurter Bücherfreund 12 (1914), p.215 & Pl. 48 — E.P. Goldschmidt & Co., London; their Catalogue 4: Manuscripts and early printed books (London 1924), item 140 (£350) — Trento, Castello del Buonconsiglio.Malaguzzi, op. cit., 1993, pp.61-67 & Pl. 8.
Fabienne Le Bars has compared the bindings on two of Madruzzo’s sextodecimos (Berosus and Caesar) and on the two folios, with a copy of Cicero’s Les sentences (Lyon 1550), an octavo bound for Mansfeld in 1556. Mansfeld’s Cicero, uncharacteristically, has a pointillé ground, and several decorative features in common with the Madruzzo bindings, leading Le Bars to suspect reciprocal influences upon each other (see “Un luxe éphémère: les reliures aux armes de Pierre-Ernest de Mansfeld” in Un prince de la Renaissance: Pierre-Ernest de Mansfeld [1517–1604] [Luxemburg, 2007], pp. 166, 467–468, no. 74). Mansfeld’s Cicero is traditionally assigned to the eponymous Mansfeld Binder and Malaguzzi suggested that Madruzzo’s Plato was made in the same shop. This is not improbable; however, there are no tools in common to warrant the attribution.
Unlike Mansfeld, who ceased to collect books once released from the dungeon at Vincennes, Gian Federico continued, buying books in Paris, Lyon, and Rome, and impressing his arms on the bindings (six armorial stamps are known). He often also, as with the present volume, inscribed his books (see provenance), and comparable inscriptions were incised by him in the walls of the Castello di Issogne. Omar Borettaz, in I graffiti del Castello di Issogne in Valle d'Aosta (1995), records two graffiti in the “corridoio verde”, one (no. 389), “15y65 20 iunii / Benedictus est Dominus Deus meus / F.Z. Madrus,” almost matching an inscription in this copy, the other (no. 478), “X augusti 15y64 / Sperat et perseverat / H. … Z. Madruz,” close in date. When he died in Rome in 1586, Gian Federico owned at least sixty volumes.
No testament or postmortem inventory of his estate survives. His marriage to Isabella di Challant produced three sons: his second son, Carlo Gaudenzio (1562–1629), had just completed legal studies in Pavia, and in 1586 was living in Rome under the patronage of his uncle, Cardinal Ludovico Madruzzo. It appears that Carlo Gaudenzio absorbed his father’s books into his own library. A postmortem inventory of his library itemizes 1,411 titles, including all six volumes his father had commissioned during his captivity in Vincennes. In his testament, Carlo Gaudenzio named his nephews, Vittorio Gaudenzio (1597–1630) and Carlo Emanuele (b. 1599), and as heirs to his property, including a Roman palace (palazzo della Rovere, in piazza Scossacavali nel rione Borgo). The death of Vittorio (leaving only a daughter) caused his younger brother, Carlo Emanuele, to leave the Church, and to marry Claudia Particella (1597–ca 1667). The Roman palace was sold in 1648.
Volume 1 (only, of 2), 16mo (121 x 76 mm). Italic type, with some roman, 29 lines plus headline. collation: ã8 è8 ì8 ò8 ù4a–z8 A–O8 P4 Q–R8 S2: 354 leaves (u4 blank). Woodcut printer's device on title (Baudrier 1), a few woodcut headpieces and initials. Ruled in red. (Quires c & d browned.)
binding: Contemporary Parisian russet morocco (126 x 84 mm), by the Mansfeld Binder for Gian Federico Madruzzo, central painted arms on covers, enclosed by strapwork on a semé of pointillé tools, the strapwork with black-painted foliate ornaments, triple gilt fillet borders, spine with 4 full and 2 half bands, title lettered in gilt across head, compartments with gilt arabesque, edges gilt and gauffered to an arabesque design. (Minor restoration to spine ends, joints, and edges.) Green cloth folding-box.
provenance: Gian Federico Madruzzo (armorial supralibros, inscriptions “15y64-4 Augusti | non hic [symbol of the Sacred Heart] | satiabor | HF. F.Z. Madruts” and “15y65 / 23 junij / Benedictus d[omi]n[u]s deus mé / H.F. F.Z Madru …” on pastedown and front end-leaf) — possibly Cardinal Carlo Gaudenzio Madruzzo (1562–1629; postmortem inventory listing 1435 books in his library in Borgo S. Pietro in Rome, f. 241 recto, line 17: “Berosius, de antiquitate Italiae” [Archivio di Stato di Roma, Notai del tribunale dell’ auditor Camerae, Sanctes Floridus (1615–1650), no. 2991, cc. 206–268]) [The inventory is digitized and transcribed by Paulette Taieb; see her website BNV: Bibliothèques Nobiliaires Valdôtaines (Bases de données, 1630)] — Villa di Carmignanello, Sesto Fiorentino, summer monastery for the Dominican friars of Santa Maria Novella (inscription “Bibliotheca Carmingnanell[o] posuit (?) Fr: Aloysius M[aria] della Biavella”) — Santa Maria Novella, Florence (Dominican convent) (eighteenth-century armorial ink-stamp) — Dr. [Isidore?] Simon, of Marseille, (exlibris “Bibliothèque Bastide de la Pomme”) — Librairie Jean Viardot, Paris — Michel Wittock (1936–2020; Christie’s, London, 7 July 2004, lot 15). acquisition: Purchased at the Wittock sale through Robin Halwas. 
references: FB 57116; USTC 151907; Adams B-790; Baudrier, IV, p. 384; Gültlingen, XI, p. 51: 12; for the binding, see Devaux, Dix siècles de reliure (Paris 1977), p. 83 & Pl. (opposite p.48); Catalogue succinct des reliures exposées à l’occasion de l’inauguration de la Bibliotheca Wittockiana (Brussels 1983), no. 38; Hobson & Culot, Italian and French 16th-Century Bookbindings (Brussels 1991), no. 50; Malaguzzi, Regiam sibi bibliothecem instruxit: legature di pregio del secondo Cinquecento dalla raccolta di Gian Federico Madruzzo (Trento 1993), no. 25 & Pl. 3; Malaguzzi, “Committenza madruzziana di legature di pregio” in I Madruzzo e l’Europa 1539-1658: i principi vescovi tra Papato e Impero (Milan 1993), pp.661–671, no. 37 (illustrated p. 669); Culot, “La reliure en Italie et en France” in Bibliotheca Wittockiana, Musea Nostra—38 (Brussels 1996), p.36; Culot, “Un bibliophile du Trentin, Gian Federico Madruzzo (1531–1586). Les reliures frappées à ses armoiries” in Bulletin du Bibliophile (1997), pp. 148–153.