Manente, Historie, Venice, 1561, Roman armorial binding for Jerónimo Ruiz, the Baluze copy

2 works in one volume, 4to (208 x 145 mm). Italic type, 35 lines plus headline. collation: (1) *⁸ A-T⁸ V⁴: 164 leaves. (2) a-c⁴ A-Y⁸ Z²: 190 leaves. Woodcut printer's device on 2 title-pages and final verso, woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces. (Some very slight spotting.)

binding: Roman armorial binding (214 x 160 mm) for Jerónimo Ruiz, late 1560s, russet morocco richly gold tooled, triple blind fillet around sides, gilt frame composed of repeated interlaced knotwork tool within gilt fillets, large floral cornerpieces, central cartouche with Ruiz arms, flanked by initials "I.R.", spine with 3 full and 4 half bands, 2-line title in upper compartment, gilt fleuron in others, edges gilt and gauffered. (With old repairs to spine ends and neat repairs to corners.)

provenance: Jerónimo Ruiz (c. 1542), arms on binding and initials I.R.—Étienne Baluze, of Tulle (1630- 1718), librarian to Colbert, inscription to title, his sale, Gabriel Martin, Bibliotheca Baluziana, Paris, 8 May 1719, lot 3787—Frederick Startridge Ellis (1830-1901), his sale, Sotheby's, 16 November 1885, lot 672 (initials misidentified with James VI)—Arthur Jeffrey Parsons (1856-1915), his sale, American Art Association, 24 January 1923, lot 37 (arms misidentified with Gaspard Bouffier)—Giuseppe Martini, Florence & Lugano, sale, Libreria antiquaria Hoepli, Zurich, 21-23 May 1935, lot 129 & Pl. 56—Sotheby's, 8 November 1954, lot 97—Davis & Orioli, London, Catalogue 151 ([1955]), item 16a—Librairie Lardanchet, Paris, Catalogue 50 (1956), item 3783—Sandbergs Bokhandel, Stockholm, Catalogue 13 (1966), item 47—Georges Heilbrun, Paris, Catalogue 31 (1969), item 40—Charles Filippi, of Paris (d. 2000), ex-libris, his sale, Ader Tajan & Pierre Meaudre, Paris, 21 October 1994, lot 48. acquisition: Purchased in 1995 from Librairie Lardanchet, Paris. references: (1) Edit16 CNCE 26318; USTC 840011; (2) Edit16 CNCE 75264; USTC 763369; De Marinis, La Legatura artistica in Italia nei secoli XV e XVI, I (1960) no. 948; Michel Wittock, "Une reliure inédite pour Jeronimo Ruiz" in E codicibus impressisque: Opstellen over het boek in de Lage Landen voor Elly Cockx-Indestege (Leuven 2004), III, p. 220 (this copy mentioned); Federico & Livio Macchi, Atlante della legatura italiana: Il Rinascimento (XV-XVI secolo) (Milan 2007), pp. 160-161, plate 60