Accolti, Lo inganno de gl'occhi, Florence, 1625, armorial red morocco gilt for Núñez de Guzmán, Godolphin copy

ACCOLTI, PIETRO. Lo inganno de gl'occhi, prospettiva pratica di Pietro Accolti gentilhuomo fiorentino. E della Toscana Accademia del Disegno. Trattato in acconcio della pittura. Florence: Pietro Cecconcelli, 1625

FIRST AND ONLY EDITION of Accolti's mathematical work on perspective, which contains, in the final chapter, a paraphrase of some of Leonardo's abridged Trattato della pittura, and can be considered the first printing of Leonardo's text. Pietro Accolti (1579-1642), in the service of the Medici in Florence, composed this treatise on "the deception of the eyes" for students of the Florentine Academy, with such close reference to a copy of Leonardo's treatise that he must have been in possession of a manuscript copy.

Folio (298 x 215 mm). Roman and italic type, 48 lines plus headline. Collation: *² ff⁴ A² B-G⁴ H² I-V⁴ [X]²: 84 leaves. Engraved Medici arms on title-page, woodcut initials, head and tailpieces, woodcut diagrams, penultimate leaf with two woodcut illustrations, final leaf with woodcut device. (Occasional spotting.)

Binding: Seventeenth-century red morocco gilt (301 x 228 mm), probably Neapolitan, arms of Núñez de Guzmán on upper cover, armorial with motto on lower cover, both within a gilt border with leafy corner stamps, spine gilt in compartments with gilt lettering (including shelfmarks P and I), gilt edges, in modern drop-backed folding box by Antonio P.N. with coloured onlays. (Joints and ends of spine repaired, wormholes in morocco repaired but still visible in pastedowns, edges renewed.)

Provenance: Don Ramiro Núñez de Guzmán, duke of Medina de las Torres (1602-1668, viceroy of Naples), arms on binding, the remains of his library acquired on his death by — William Godolphin (1635-1696, English ambassador to Madrid), signature on title-page (after being accused of Catholicism and recalled to England, he stayed in Madrid for the rest of his life) — purchased in Madrid in 1697 after the death of the ambassador, inscription at foot of rear flyleaf — C. [-] Robartes (?), inscription on title-page — old inventory number 8015 on inside lower cover — bibliographical notes in Italian on inside front cover — Zisska and Schauer, sale, 8 May 2008, lot 917. Acquisition: Purchased in 2017 from Sokol Books, London. References: USTC 4008330