Pius IV, Transumptum literarum facultatum et privilegiorum, Rome, 1563, printed on vellum, brown morocco gilt with later arms of Carlo Emanuele of Savoy

4to (220 x 153 mm). Roman type, 38 lines plus headline. collation: A-C⁴ D1-3: 15 leaves (of 16; lacking terminal blank?). Title-page with first word in gold and arms of Pius IV within a floral wreath and in architectural border painted in burnished gold and colours, 5 initials in gold on coloured background (one historiated portraying St. Mark, signed at end by apostolic notary Felix de Romaulis (who is mentioned on A2v), with his notary's mark. (Title-page repaired slightly affecting arms, lower margin of D3 supplied (not affecting text or annotations), small hole in lower margins.)

binding: Contemporary brown morocco (230 x 157 mm), frame composed of double gilt fillets flanked by 4 blind fillets with gilt fleurons at corners, at centre of each cover a gilt stamped medallion, upper cover with arms of Charles Emanuel III, Duke of Savoy painted within, the whole surmounted by a crown and surrounded by the collar of the Golden Fleece, traces of 2 pairs of ties, 3 raised bands on spine with gilt rosettes in compartments. (Head and tail of spine damaged slightly, rubbed in places.)

provenance: Carlo Emanuele III, Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia (1701-1773), arms on upper cover—J. Pearson & Co., London, sale Sotheby's, 8 December 1924, lot 923—Albert Ehrman (1890-1969), English diamond merchant and founder of the Broxbourne Library, bookplate—Broxbourne Library, bookplate, sale, Sotheby's, 9 May 1978, lot 538, £1,000 to Breslauer. acquisition: Purchased in 1980 from Martin Breslauer Inc., New York.