Ramberti, delle cose de Turchi, Venice, Sons of Aldo Manuzio, 1539, contemporary vellum

Ramberti, Benedetto. Libri tre delle cose de Turchi. Nel primo si descriue il uiaggio da Venetia à Costantinopoli, con gli nomi de luoghi antichi & moderni. Nel secondo la Porta, cioe la corte del soltan Soleymano, signor de Turchi. Nel terzo il modo del reggere il stato & imperio suo. Venice: Sons of Aldo Manuzio, 1539

Rare first edition, with only one copy recorded at auction since 1934. The author traveled to the Ottoman Empire in 1534 with the Venetian ambassador Daniello Ludovisi, and his account "contains a valuable account of the Ottoman court, especially in the second book, which describes the financial structure of the Ottoman Empire" (Atabey). A second edition appeared in 1541, and was translated into English in 1542.

8vo (150 x 101 mm, unopened and partially uncut). Italic type, 30 lines plus headline. collation: A-E⁸: 40 leaves. Woodcut Aldine device to title-page and verso of last leaf, guide letters in initial spaces. (Final blank toned and soiled.)

binding: Contemporary vellum (158 x 106 mm). (Creased and lightly soiled.)

acquisition: Purchased from Gilhofer & Ranschburg, Lucerne, 1979. references: UCLA 285; Renouard 117/1; Edit16 26683; USTC 851943