Peto, De mensuris et ponderibus Romanis et Graecis, Venice, Aldo II Manuzio, 1573, French red straight-grained morocco signed F.L.P. Lefebvre

Peto, Luca. Lucae Paeti iurisconsul. De mensuris et ponderibus Romanis et Graecis cum his quae hodie Romae sunt collatis libri quinque eiusdem variarum lectionum liber vnus. Venice: Aldo II Manuzio, 1573

First edition, large paper copy—Renouard's copy. This most probably is the copy Renouard sold in 1804 ("in-fol. dos de mar. r."), which Brunet considered “mais beaucoup moins cher ordinairement”. In the first two editions of his Annales, however, Renouard implies that a large paper copy was still in his possession: "J'ai un exemplaire sur papier très beau et de plus grand format" (1812, p. 54); "Ch. magnam, mar. r. Je ne'ai jamais rencontré que cet exemplaire en grand papier" (1819, I, p. 241). Only in the third edition does he admit to its sale: "J'ai eu un exemplaire sur papier très beau et de plus grand format. Il y en a un semblable dans la Bibliothèque de Parme" (1834, pp. 216-217).

Folio (333 x 215 mm). Roman and italic type, 50 lines plus headline. collation: *⁴ A-G⁴ H-I² K-M⁴ †² (lacking †²): 48 (of 50) leaves. Woodcut Aldine device on title-page, woodcut initials, eight full-page woodcut illustrations of early weights and measures.

binding: French red straight-grained morocco (340 x 224 mm), signed F.L.P. Lefebvre (fl. 1810s-1820s, nephew or son-in-law of Bozerian), broad gilt border of palmettos and lotus blossoms, spine with raised bands in six compartments, second gilt- lettered, others with gilt floral spray, blue endpapers, vellum endleaves, edges gilt. (Slight rubbing to extremities.)

provenance: Antoine-Augustin Renouard (1765-1853), without his inventory number — Louis-Catherine Silvestre, Catalogue des livres rares et précieux de la bibliothèque de M. R., Paris, 19 November-13 December 1804, lot 242 — Bernard Quaritch, Catalogue of a most important collection of publications of the Aldine Press, 1494-1595, with illustrations (London 1929), p.70; Bernard Quaritch, Catalogue 468 (London 1933), item 751 (£8 8s); Bernard Quaritch, Catalogue 550 (London 1938), item 357 (8 8s); Bernard Quaritch, Catalogue 468 (London 1933), item 468 (£8 8s) — Sir Robert Henry Abdy, 5^th Bt. (1896- 1976) — Ader Picard Tajan & Claude Guérin, Bibliothèque de Sir A. Deuxième partie: livres anciens, éditions aldines; architecture; antiquités, décoration, histoire naturelle, ouvrages de William Blake, livres illustrés modernes, Paris, 29-30 April 1976, lot 165 (FF 3,000) — Pierre Berès, Catalogue 74: Livres précieux des XVIe et XVIIe siècle (Paris 1983), item 119 (FF 12,000). acquisition: Purchased from Pierre Berès, Paris, 1984. references: UCLA 860; Renouard 216/11; Edit16 48417; USTC 847774