Acosta, Conciones in Quadragesimam, Venice, 1599, red morocco richly gilt, presentation copy

ACOSTA, JOSÉ DE. Iosephi Acostae e Societate Iesu, Conciones in Quadragesimam. Quarum in singulas Ferias numerum & locum index initio praefixus ostendit: res vero, & insigniores Scripturae locos tractatos, duo alii indices continent. Venice: Giovanni Battista Ciotti, 1599

PRESENTATION COPY, IN AN ELABORATE GILT BINDING, from the printer to the dedicatee, Bishop Simon Feurstein (whose name was printed incorrectly on both the title-page and the dedicatory letter, and changed in manuscript to F from T). Feurstein accompanied Carlo Madruzzo, bishop of Trent and owner of a substantial library, on his diocesan visitation in 1607. Archivio dei possessori records two other books of Feurstein’s, now in the Biblioteca Diocesana Vigilianum of Trento.

Schunke’s survey of Venetian binders identified this binder as the Grotesken-Meister, active 1590-1616, who also made bindings for official Venetian Commissioni dogali.

This collection of sermons for Lent, by José de Acosta (1540-1600), the famous Jesuit missionary and preacher, were first printed in Salamanca in 1596. This copy conforms to variant B, according to ICCU, with the second quire signed a rather than **. The device on the title-page is usually printed in black, rather than sepia, as here. Ciotti also produced books for the Accademia Veneziana.

8vo (158 x 106 mm). Roman type, 39 lines plus headline. Collation: *⁸ a-d⁸ e⁴ A-Z⁸ Aa-Xx⁸: 436 leaves (last leaf blank, but with some offsetting). Engraved device on title-page printed in sepia, woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces. (Occasional very slight damp-staining.)

Binding: Contemporary Venetian red morocco richly gilt (166 x 124 mm), by the Grotesques Master, composed of small flower, leafy, bird and urn tools, spine gilt in compartments, gilt edges, stubs from two pairs of ties, endleaves with watermark of a flag (not found in Briquet). (Ends of spine and joints repaired, corners and fore-edges of both boards repaired, a few wormholes visible from inside the boards, lower pastedown slightly torn.)

Provenance: Presentation copy from the printer, Ciotti, inscribed on verso of front flyleaf "Praesent ab ipsomet Typographo 20 Martii Anno &c. 1599" — Simon Feurstein (1552-1623), bishop of Belluno and suffragan to the bishops of Bressanone, inscription at foot of title-page — Capuchin convent of Bressanone, inscriptions on title-page and later ink stamp in German — Axel Jonsson junior (1888-1950), bookplate. Acquisition: Purchased in 1990 from Marlborough Rare Books, London. References: Edit16 228; I. Schunke, “Venezianische Renaissance-Einbände: ihre Entwicklung und ihre Werkstätten”, in Studi di bibliografia e di storia in onore di Tammaro de Marinis (Verona, 1963), pp.192-193 and plate XXXI