Lot n° 29
Estimation :
1000 - 1500
EUR
*BARBIERI (Philippus de). - Lot 29
*BARBIERI (Philippus de).
Quattuor hic compressa opuscula. Discordantie sanctorum doctorum Hieronymi Augustini. Sibyllarum de Christo vaticinia : cum appropriatis singularum figuris. Varia Judeorum [et] gentilium de Christo testimonia. Centones Probe Falconie deutriusq[ue] testamenti hystoriis ex carminibus Virgilii selecti : cum annotationes locorum ex quibus sesumpti sunt ; a divo Hieronymo Comprobate.
Venice: Bernardino Benali, [ca. 1510-1520]. - In-4, 193 x 135 : (16 of 28 ff.) [sig. (A)2 B-D4 E2 (missing quires a-c4)]. Olive morocco, title and publisher in gilt letters on the first board, spine ribbed, double gilt fillet inside (K.A. 1903).
Very rare edition, long considered as incunabula.
We have here only the first part of the work including the description of the 12 sibyls by the Dominican Philippus de Barbieri (1426-1487).
This opuscule appeared for the first time in 1481. A sibyl is a prophetess, who makes work of divination. With the number of 10 in Antiquity, it is Barbieri who proposed two additional oracles so that their number corresponds to that of the prophets of the old testament, he added the Agrippa sibyl and the European sibyl. It is also him who fixed the age, an attribute and a costume to each prophetess.
This edition was printed in Venice by Bernardino Benali, in Roman and Gothic characters. It includes a few historiated or black background initials, but above all 12 full-page woodcuts representing the 12 sibyls in four-part frames, made of arabesque motifs and architectural columns. Each one bears a phylactery, its name in a cartouche, and is accompanied by a text giving a short presentation of the represented sibyl as well as the verse of the prophet which is associated with it. The 12 sibyls are the Persian, the Libyan, the Delphic, the Cimmerian, the Samian, the Cumaean, the Hellespontine, the Phrygian, the European, the Tiburtine, the Agrippa and the Eritrean.
Considered incunabula until recently, the edition was actually printed after 1500. The woodcuts are actually Venetian copies of those of the earlier Roman editions.
A bound copy without the second part of the work, which was to include the "Centon on the Old Testament" by Faltonia B. Proba (quires a to c, 12 leaves). This was a part with a separate title page and a new imposition, which apparently did not interest the owner of the time or perhaps the English collector who had the copy bound in the early 20th century.
Spine and edges of boards faded, minor rubbing to headpieces and corners. Light staining on the lower edge of the first two leaves, scattered foxing.
Provenance: Bourlon de Rouvre, with bookplate.
ATTENTION: Lots preceded by an asterisk * have an additional charge of 5,5 % for temporary import tax.
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