Beschreibung:

JACOBUS PHILIPPUS DE BERGAMO (1434-1520). De claris mulieribus. Edited by Albertus de Placentia and Augustinus de Casali Maiori. Ferrara: Laurentius de Rubeis, de Valentia, 29 April 1497.
JACOBUS PHILIPPUS DE BERGAMO (1434-1520). De claris mulieribus. Edited by Albertus de Placentia and Augustinus de Casali Maiori. Ferrara: Laurentius de Rubeis, de Valentia, 29 April 1497. Super-chancery 2 o (309 x 200 mm). Collation : A 4 a-e 8 f 6 g-p 8 q-x 6 . 8 y-z 6 (A1r xylographic title, A1v presentation woodcut within border, A2r author's dedicatory prologue to Beatrice of Aragon, A4r index of names, a1r table of women's deeds and inventions, a1v woodcut scenes from the life of the Virgin within border, a2r text, z6r colophon and register, z6v blank). 176 leaves. 45 lines plus headline, a3-z6 foliated III-CLXX, the foliation, on rectos, printed on a line above the heading. Types 4:105G (text), 1:81G and 2:63G (index and marginalia), 5:105R (foliation). Opening 8-line black-on-white initial showing the Virgin with Child (BMC set 3), 4-line white-on-black initials (set 2), two large woodcuts, the first showing the author presenting his book to Queen Beatrice of Aragon, the second in eight scenes showing the life of the Virgin, both within the same woodcut architectural border (2a, signed S and dated 1493), second woodcut border (3a) enclosing first text page, 172 woodcut vignette portraits of famous women, including 116 repeats, printed from 52 blocks, woodcut printer's device C (Kristeller 38). (Leaf z6 torn and repaired, A4 bound after A1, a few other minor repairs.) 19th-century olive morocco gilt, with central gilt arabesque on sides, morocco doublures by Fairbairn and Armstrong (light rubbing to spine, evenly faded to brown). Provenance : acquired from John Fleming 1962. FIRST EDITION, OF THIS CLASSIC OF ITALIAN RENAISSANCE BOOK ILLUSTRATION. Jacobus Philippus, also referred to by his family name Foresti de Bergamo (or Forestus Bergomensis), an Augustinian hermit, was the author of a Confessional and best known for his frequently reprinted world chronicle (see following lot). The dedication of his treatise on illustrious women to Beatrice of Aragon, widow of Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, implies that the work may have been printed from an earlier manuscript, since Beatrice died in 1491. Possible corroboration of this theory is provided by the woodcut border dated 1493, which, like all of the other woodcut material, appears here for the first time; this suggests that Rubeis may have planned the work for several years previously. The women portrayed include numerous saints and historical figures including Joan of Arc, Margaret Queen of England and Mary Queen of Scots, as well as a few Italian contemporaries of the author. The artist of the fine woodcuts has not been identified, but several engravers probably contributed to the illustrations. Not only do the vivid vignette cuts in the Florentine style contrast markedly with the more delicate contours of the outline border cuts, the latter showing a clear Venetian influence, but the repeated "passe-partout" cuts of female saints and martyrs differ noticeably in style from the seven more realistic likenesses of contemporary Italian women, each of which is used for only one personnage. Five of the seven have been identified, as Bianca Maria Sforza, Catherina Countess of Forlì and Imola, Leonora of Aragon, wife of Ercole d'Este, Danisella Trivulzia, and Cassandra Fidelis. Sander called these striking portraits "précieux comme premières tentatives dans les arts graphiques de faire des portraits d'après nature." BMC VI, 613 (IB. 25752); BSB Ink-120; CIBN J-140; Goff J-204; HC *2813; Hind II, pp. 510-12; Lippmann, Wood-engraving in Italy 153; Oates 2246; Pellechet 2069; Polain (B) 1497; Proctor 5762; Sander 915.