Tarsia, Oratione o vero discorso nell'essequie del divino Michelagnolo, Florence, 1564, nineteenth-century marbled boards

TARSIA, GIOVANNI MARIA. Oratione o vero discorso fatto nell'essequie del divino Michelagnolo Buonarroti. Con alcuni sonetti, e prose latine e volgari di diversi, circa il disparere occorso tra gli scultori, e pittori. Florence: Bartolomeo I Sermartelli, 1564

FIRST EDITION of the funeral oration delivered upon the death of Michelangelo by the Florentine priest and man of letters Giovanni Maria Tarsia (fl. 1564-1607). The volume also contains his dedication to the painter Agnolo Bronzino, a discorso by Benvenuto Cellini "on the difference between sculptors and painters", verses by Antonfrancesco Grazzini detto "Il Lasca" in response to Cellini, and verses contributed by a "B.P. Flor", Giovanni Girolamo Fiorelli, and Michele Capri. It concludes with a series of sonnets in praise of Michelangelo.

4to (201 x 146 mm). Italic and some roman type, 40 lines. collation: A-C⁴ D⁶: 18 leaves. Title-page with woodcut device, woodcut initials. (Some marginal dampstaining.)

Binding: Nineteenth-century marbled paper boards (204 x 150 mm), housed in modern dark blue cloth folding case. (Boards slightly rubbed.)

Provenance: "J[ose] Maria di Candia", nineteenth-century inscription in purple ink on title-page and printed shelflabel pasted to verso of endleaf—Bernard Quaritch, collated complete note on rear pastedown. Acquisition: Purchased in 2005 from Bernard Quaritch, London. References: USTC 858095; Edit16 CNCE 33633