Strozzi, poetae pater et filius, Venice, Aldo Manuzio & Andrea Torresano, 1513, Roman red morocco, 1530s, manuscript corrections possibly by Aldine workshop

Strozzi, Tito Vespasiano. Strozii poetae pater et filius. Venice: Aldo Manuzio & Andrea Torresano, January 1513

The present copy exhibits manuscript corrections that correspond to those documented by H. George Fletcher in his article, "Manuscript corrections in the Aldine Strozzi of 1513" (The Book of Venice - Il libro veneziano, ed. Lisa Pon and Craig Kallendorf, Miscellanea Marciana, 20 [2005-2007], pp. 191-206). Fletcher identifies a series of emendations across twenty known copies, including three from the T.K. Brooker collection.

The corrections, executed in a fine water-based scribal ink, now faded to pale brown, are applied with a delicate quill. The consistency of the script across multiple copies has led Fletcher to speculate that the corrections may be in the hand of Aldo Manuzio himself. Their widespread occurrence implies they were made at or near the point of publication, rather than being individual owner interventions.

There are three principal corrections:

• N3v (fol. 99v), line 6: Qualis pota corrected to Qualis poeta by the addition of a superscript e, with a thin angled line below the word to indicate the correction.
• N3v (fol. 99v), line 15: Horoidum corrected to Heroidum by converting the first o to e with a fine angled line.
• N4r (fol. 100d), line 2: Opportere corrected to oppetere by converting the second o to e and deleting the r with a long, thin stroke, occasionally topped with a small horizontal squiggle.

Additionally, Fletcher identifies a correction on M3r (fol. 91), line 3 (Syenen to Syenam), which is present in all three Brooker copies.

Fletcher notes seven further corrections in the second part of the volume, in Tito Vespasiano's verse, but these are found solely in his personal copy and are absent from the Brooker copies.

The uniformity of these corrections suggests that they could have been applied within the Aldine workshop, possibly under the supervision of Aldo Manuzio himself.

8vo (160 x 95 mm). Italic type, 30 lines plus headline. collation: ^πA⁸ A-M⁸ N⁴ a-t⁸: 260 leaves. Woodcut Aldine device to title- page and verso of last leaf, guide letters in initial spaces. (Intermittent light foxing.)

binding: Roman red morocco (166 x 102 mm), 1530s, double gilt fillets flanked by single blind fillets forming four interlocking five-sided geometric figures, spine with eight compartments with title "STROZI*" in gilt running down, traces of two pairs of green silk ties, gilt and gauffered edges. (Worming to head and foot of spine and hinges, corners very lightly bumped.)

provenance: "a 38", Roman bookseller's mark (?) under Aldine device — possibly Cardinal Giovanni Salviati (1490-1553) (appointed Cardinal by Leo X on 1 July 1517; see Pierre Hurtubise, Une famille-témoin les Salviati (Città del Vaticano, 1985), pp. 286-287, regarding his purchases from Giunti) — unidentified owner, shelfmark "A.8.26" on upper pastedown — Tammaro De Marinis (1878-1969) — Martin Breslauer Inc., New York. acquisition: Purchased from Martin Breslauer Inc., New York, 1976. references: UCLA 110; Renouard 65/10; Edit16 37457; USTC 857690; for the binding: De Marinis, Rilegature veneziane del XV e XVI secolo (Venice 1955), no. 44; De Marinis, La Legatura artistica in Italia nei secoli XV e XVI (Florence 1960), no. 1769 and Pl. C37