PORZIO (Simone). - Lot 50

PORZIO (Simone). De Coloribus libellus, à Simone Portio neapolitano latinitate donatus, & commentarijs illustratus; unà cum eiusdem præfatione, qua Coloris naturam declarat. Florence: Laurenzo Torrentino, 1548. -In-4, 220x140: 197 pp, (1 f.). Soft parchment overlay, smooth spine (contemporary binding). Rare first edition, dedicated to Cosimo I, Duke of Florence, of the Latin translation by the Italian philosopher, humanist and alchemist Simone Porzio (1497-1554), of the ancient Greek treatise on color, long attributed to Aristotle but more likely the work of one of his pupils or disciples, such as Theophrastus. The passages translated into Latin are always preceded by the Greek text. At the head is an introduction by Simone Porzio, in which he explains the nature of color. Copy in contemporary binding. It bears this handwritten indication at the top of the title: "Domus professi Rom. Soc. Jesu ex legato episcopi Zacynthi Bibl. Com." i.e. "Maison professe des jésuites à Rome. Having belonged to the legate of the bishop of Zakynthos". The preface includes several underlined passages, and in the margins are headlines and various other drawings and accolades made at the time. Perforation, cuts and restorations to spine. Boards and spine soiled, small loss to flap edges, without ties. Head cover missing. A few rare but not serious brown spots and a small marginal wetness in the inner margin of a few leaves. The last two leaves and the last endpaper have the imprint of a tree leaf that had been placed visibly between the last leaf and the endpaper. Provenance: Legate of the Bishop of Zakynthos, with handwritten bookplate on the title. - Guillaume Pedone Lauriel Italian bookshop in Paris, with its label bearing the address of Place Sorbonne, indicating that it was affixed before 1887, when the bookshop moved to Rue Soufflot.