Vitruvius, De architectura libri decem, [Lyon, Lucimborgo da Gabiano, 1523], sixteenth-century vellum over pasteboards

Vitruvius Pollio, Marcus. De architectura libri decem, summa diligentia recogniti, atque excusi. Cum nonnullis figuris sub hoc signo * positis, nunquam antea impraessis. Additis Iulii frontini de aqueductibus libris, proter materiae affinitatem. [Lyon: Lucimborgo da Gabiano, 1523]

A second example, with intriguing provenance. It bears the inscription dated 1578 of the poet Silvio Pontevico, a courtier at the Gonzaga court in Mantua, and the later signature and undated purchase note (“L 1-0 di moneta di Genova”) of the polymath Bernardino Baldi (1553-1617), also under the protection of the Gonzaga, author of Scamilli impares Vitruviani and De verborum vitruvianorum significatione, both first published at Augsburg in 1612. Baldi’s signature and a comparable purchase note ("mi costa 8 scudi, soldi 10 di moneta di Genova") are found in a Ms of Claudian, De Raptu Proserpinae, in Rome (Biblioteca Angelica, 2266); the same signature and a purchase note ("Costa L i – 8 – 0 di moneta di Genova") is in a Ms of Baptista Massa de Argenta, De fructibus vescendis (1471), in Philadelphia (College of Physicians [SDBM_34260]). A copy of the Venice 1511 Plautus with dated inscriptions of Pontevico (1556) and Baldi (1587) was sold by Christie’s New York, 1 October 1980, lot 128.

Three editions of Vitruvius are entered in Baldi’s holograph “Elenchus librorum omnium”, written in 1605 (transcribed by Alfredo Serrai, Bernardino Baldi: la vita, le opere, la biblioteca, Milan 2002): (1) "Vitruuij Architect. Cum Com. Daniel Barbari f. Venetiis" (i.e., the 1567 folio Barbaro Vitruvius; Serrai, p.732 V.4); (2) Vitruuij Architectura 4. Basileae Argentorati (i.e., the 1550 Strassburg Philandrier Vitruvius; Serrai, p. 736 V.26); and (3) "Victruuij Architectura 8. Venetiis" cross-indexed under “Iulius Frontinus de Aqueduct. In Vol. Vitruuii 8” (Serrai, p.736 V.20; p. 532 l.48). This last entry almost certainly refers to this third octavo printing of Vitruvius, the only anonymously printed edition, supposed by early collectors to be a product of the Venetian press of the Manuzio family (hence its inclusion in Renouard).

8vo (158 x 98 mm). Italic type with some Greek, 32 lines plus headline. collation: A-H⁸ I-M⁴ N-Z⁸ AA-FF⁸: 216 leaves. Title printed in red within ornamental woodcut border, numerous woodcut illustrations. (Intermittent staining and browning, a few minor edge tears and repairs, illustration on H4 printed upside down, last quire slightly wormed.)

binding: Sixteenth-century vellum over pasteboards (164 x 103 mm), covers undecorated, manuscript title to spine, with three double bands, traces of two sets of ties. (Rubbed, corners bumped, spine damaged with losses to vellum panel, rear pastedown slightly wormed.)

provenance: Silvio Pontevico, inscription dated 1578 on front flyleaf — Bernardino Baldi (1553–1617), inscription on title- page — unidentified owner, inscription "Fa parte della collezione Aldina, Vend a (?)." acquisition: Purchased from Mayfair Rare Books (Paolo Rambaldi), London, 2017. references: UCLA 1172; Renouard 315/59; not in Shaw; Baudrier, VII, 167; Sergio Bettini, “Bernardino Baldi e Vitruvio” in Seminario di studi su Bernardino Baldi Urbinate (1553-1617), edited by Giorgio Cerboni Baiardi (Urbino 2006), pp. 227-250; Enrico Celani, "Dediche, postille, dichiarazioni di proprietà" in La Bibliofilía 7 (1905), pp. 91-104 (p. 94, listing 10 books with inscription "Bern Baldi"); and 8 (1906), pp. 96-105" (p. 98) one with inscription "Sylvii Pontarici" (in Biblioteca Angelica, OO. 11. 17-21)