Beschreibung:

Giovio, Paolo. Pavli Iovii Novocomensis episcopi nvcerini, Historiarum svi temporis tomvs primvs [–secvndvs], xxiiii libros complectens, cvm indice plenissimo. Paris: Michel de Vascosan, 1558 [–1560]
Sixteen Parisian armorial bindings displaying a stamp of a rampant lion within a cartouche of foliage are known. This insignia had been recorded in the Manuel de l’amateur de reliures armoriées françaises (Paris, 1929) among “fers non identifiés” (Pl. 1860, 2–3). The arms were recognized as those of Bartolomeo Cenami by Pierre Berès, in 1963 (see list below, no. 14), and as belonging to the Cenami family by a Sotheby’s cataloguer, in 1977 (no. 6), but not until 1991, when Jean Balsamo published two bindings in Bulletin du Bibliophile (nos. 1, 16), did Bartolomeo Cenami emerge into the light as a bibliophile. The sixteen bindings cover books printed between 1558 and 1601, in French (6), Latin (5), Italian (3), and Spanish (2), printed at Rouen (4), Paris (3), Medina del Campo (2), Venice (2), and Augsburg, Basel, Leiden, Lyon, and Vicenza (one in each city). Seven bindings are in the Bibliotheca Brookeriana.
Bartolomeo di Girolamo di Ridolfo Cenami (1556–1611) was the scion of a Lucchese merchant and banking family, who arrived in Paris about 1578, and quickly became a royal creditor to Henri III. He forged a similar relationship with Henri IV, as did two of his sons, Vincenzo (1581–January 1651) and Abbé Paolo (1587–October 1651), with Cardinal Mazarin. Bartolomeo kept a house in Paris in the rue du Grand-Chantier and a “Pavillon” at Charenton (Le clos Louvet), which was used occasionally by Henri IV for diplomacy and by the Dauphin Louis XIII for discreet meetings. Bartolomeo died in Paris and was interred in the church Saint-Julien-des-Enfants-Rouges.
Another of Bartolomeo’s sons, Ferdinando Gerolamo, had remained in Lucca to look after the family’s interests, dwelling there in the Palazzo del Decanato di San Michele, and the Villa Cenami at Segromigno (bought by Bartolomeo in 1599). After his premature death, his brothers Vincenzo and Paolo resolved to bequeath all family properties at Lucca to his widow, Felice Saminiati. About half of the sixteen volumes contain the later inscription “Dello Studio di Casa Cenami,” in one instance with “Casa” overwriting “Ba…” (no. 3). Since four of the volumes also have ownership inscriptions of Lucchese collectors of the eighteenth century—Bernardino Baroni, historian of Lucca, author of a genealogical memoir of the Cenami family (no. 8); Francesco Maria Conti (nos. 10, 16); Giovanni Francesco Viligiardi (no. 13); and Niccolà di Sirignano, dated Lucca 1738 (no. 3)—it is likely that the library was dispersed in Lucca, not in Paris. The books perhaps were transferred by Bartolomeo himself, during the period when he was Lucchese ambassador to Florence (1594–1599), or posthumously, by his eldest son, Vincenzo, who returned permanently to Lucca about 1636. None of the sixteen books is listed in a post-mortem inventory of Paolo’s library taken in Paris, 31 October 1651.
All of the Cenami bindings have a foliate center- and corner-pieces of a type associated with a Parisian binding atelier established by Nicolas Ève (d. ca 1582), royal binder to Henri III, and his son Clovis, royal binder to Henri IV.
List of Bindings with Cenami Arms
(1) Aristoteles, Aristotelis Stagiritae Opera, Post omnes quae in hunc usque diem prodierunt editiones, summo studio emaculata, & ad Graecum exemplar diligenter recognita Ab A. Iacobo Martino Doctore Medico ac Philosopho (Lyon: Étienne Michel, 1581). Bartolomeo Cenami (armorial supralibros). Bibliotheca Brookeriana (to be offered in a future sale).Balsamo, op. cit., pp.412-415 & Fig. 1.
(2) Domenico di Giovanni, called Burchiello, Rime del Burchiello fiorentino comentate dal Doni (Vicenza: Heirs of Perin, 1597). Bartolomeo Cenami (armorial supralibros). Bibliotheca Brookeriana (to be offered in a future sale).
(3–4) Cesare Campana, Delle historie del mondo descritte dal signor Cesare Campana. Volume primo [–secondo] (Venice: Francesco De Franceschi & Giorgio Angelieri, 1597–1599). Bartolomeo Cenami (armorial supralibros; inscription “Dello Studio di Casa Cenami” on flyleaf in each volume, that in volume I with “Casa” written over “Ba…”). — Michel Wittock (1936-2020); Une vie, une collection: cinq siècles d’art et d’histoire à travers le livre et sa reliure: exposition à la Bibliotheca Wittockiana du 10 octobre 2008 au 28 février 2009 (Dijon 2008), no. 11 — Christie Manson & Woods, The Michel Wittock collection, Part I: Important Renaissance bookbindings, London, 7 July 2004, lot 28 — Alde, Collection Michel Wittock, Sixième partie: Cinq siècles d’art et d’histoire en France à travers le livre et sa reliure, Paris, 12 November 2015, lot 17. Current location not traced.
(5) Philippe Desportes, Les premières oeuvres (Rouen: Raphaël du Petit Val, 1600), bound with: Cent pseaumes de David mis en vers françois par Philippe Desportes (Rouen: Raphaël du Petit Val, 1600), bound with: Philippe Desportes, Poesies chrestiennes (Rouen: Raphaël du Petit Val, 1600), bound with: Philippe Desportes, Quelques prieres et meditations chrestiennes (Rouen, Raphaël du Petit Val, 1600). Bartolomeo Cenami (armorial supralibros; inscription “Dello Studio di Casa Cenami”). — Pierre Louÿs (1870-1925); Fernand Lair-Dubreuil & Librairie Giraud-Badin, Livres anciens et modernes, rares et précieux, Paris, 24-27 November 1930, lot 173 — Jacques Willems (1870-1957 (?) — André Rodocanachi (1914-2001) (?) — Pierre Berès, Paris; their Catalogue 90: Poésie ancienne de l’Antiquité à la fin du seizième siècle (Paris 2000), item 176 (FF 75,000) — Pierre Bergé & associés, Pierre Berès, 80 ans de passion: 2ème vente, fonds de la librairie Pierre Berès, des incunables à nos jours, 1ère partie, Paris, 28 October 2005, lot 70. Current location not traced.
(6) Guillaume de Saluste Du Bartas, La sepmaine ou creation du monde [–La seconde sepmaine; parts 1–2 of 3 only] (Rouen: Theodor Reinsart, 1601). Bartolomeo Cenami (armorial supralibros; inscription “Dello Studio di Casa Cenami” on endpaper). — Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872) (?) — Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co., Bibliotheca Phillippica. New series: twentieth part: catalogue of Continental printed books, London, 28-29 November 1977, lot 5589 — Wells - bought in sale — Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co., Valuable printed books and manuscripts, London, 29-30 June 1983, lot 535. Current location not traced.
(7) Joachim Du Bellay, Les oeuvres francoises (Rouen: Raphaël du Petit Val, 1597). Bartolomeo Cenami (armorial supralibros; inscription “Dello Studio di Casa Cenami” on endpaper). — Georges Heilbrun, Paris; their Catalogue 4: Éditions originales anciennes et modernes: quelques autographes littéraires: provenant en partie de la bibliothèque d’un amateur (Paris [1952]), item 355 — Pierre Berès, Paris (?). Current location not traced.
(8) Claude Fauchet, Les Antiquitez gauloises (Paris 1599). Bartolomeo Cenami (armorial supralibros; inscription “Dello Studio di Casa Cenami” on endpaper). — Bernardino Baroni (1695-1781), historian of Lucca — Alde & Éric Busser, Livres anciens et modernes, Paris, 11 December 2010, lot 101 (€3600) — Jean Baptiste de Proyart, Paris; their Varia 3 (Paris [n.d.]), item 11; Catalogue 8 (Paris 2016), item 22. Current location not traced.
(9) Robert Garnier, Les tragedies de Robert Garnier conseiller dv roy, Lieutenant general criminel au siege Presidial & Seneschaussee du Maine (Rouen: Raphaël du Petit Val, 1599). Bartolomeo Cenami (armorial supralibros). Bibliotheca Brookeriana (to be offered in a future sale).
(10) Paolo Giovio, Pavli Iovii Novocomensis episcopi nvcerini, Historiarum svi temporis tomvs primvs, xxiiii libros complectens, cvm indice plenissimo (Paris: Michel de Vascosan, 1558). The volume offered here.
(11) Quintus Horatius Flaccus, Quincti Horatii Flacci Venusini, poetae lyrici elegantiss. opera : grammaticorum XL. tam antiquiss. quàm neotericorum partim iustis commentariis, partim succinctis annotationibus, singulari studio, & amplissimis sumptibus in unum corpus collectis, illustrata (Basel: Sebastian Henricpetri, 1580). Bartolomeo Cenami (armorial supralibros). Bibliotheca Brookeriana (to be offered in a future sale).
(12–13) Jerónimo Román, Republicas del mundo divididas en XXVII libros (Medina del Campo: Francisco del Canto, 1575). Bartolomeo Cenami (armorial supralibros). — unidentified owner, inscription “Jo. Giuseppe Consigli” (?) dated 1796 — Sotheby’s, Music, Continental and Russian books and manuscripts, London, 28 May 2015, lot 71 — unidentified owner - bought in sale (£5000) — Jean-Baptiste de Proyart, Paris; their Catalogue 8 (Paris 2016), item 20 — Providence, RI, John Carter Brown Library, 1-SIZE BA575.R758r.
(14) Pierre de Ronsard, Les oeuvres (Paris: Widow of Gabriel Buon, 1597). Bartolomeo Cenami (armorial supralibros; inscription “Dello Studio di Casa Cenami”). — Edward Davies Davenport (1778-1847), exlibris — Pierre Berès, Paris; their Catalogue 60: Manuscrits et livres du quatorzième au seizième siècle (Paris 1963), (included in a “Collection Ronsard”, illustrated; “10 tomes en 5 vol. in-12, reliures de l’époque maroquin olive … aux armes de Bartolomeo Cenami”) — Robert Danon; Laurin Guilloux Buffetaud & Pierre Berès, Manuscrits enluminés et livres rares - collection Robert Danon, Paris, 21 March 1973, lot 104 — unidentified owner - bought in sale (FF 30,000). Current location not traced.
(15) Flavius Vegetius Renatus, Flavi Vegeti Renati, viri inl. De re militari libri quatuor. Post omnes omnium editiones, ope veterum librorum correcti, a Godescalco stweechio Heusdano (Leiden: Franciscus I Raphelengius (Officina Plantiniana), 1592). Bartolomeo Cenami (armorial supralibros). Bibliotheca Brookeriana (to be offered in a future sale).
(16) Publius Vergilius Maro, Symbolarum libri XVII. Quibus P. Virgilii Maronis Bucolica, Georgica, Aeneis, ex probatissimis auctoribus declarantur, comparantur, illustrantur (Augsburg: Hans Schultes (Ad insigne pinus), 1599). Bartolomeo Cenami (armorial supralibros). Bibliotheca Brookeriana (to be offered in a future sale).Balsamo, op. cit., pp.412-415 & Fig. 2.
2 volumes bound in one, folio (348 x 226 mm). Roman type, 44 lines plus headline. collation: [fleuron]4, a–z6, A–Q6, R4, a–b6, c4; a–z6, A–Z6, AA–LL6, MM8, A–C6 (-C6): 625 (of 626) leaves (lacking final blank C6). Separate title-page for second volume, woodcut initials and head- and tail-pieces. (Some browning and spotting throughout.)
binding: Parisian brown morocco 356 x 243 mm), ca. 1590s, possibly by the royal binder, Clovis Ève, for Bartolomeo Cenami, gold-tooled, fillet around sides, inner frame of 2 fillets, azured quadrilobe at outer angles, corner-pieces comprised of leafy sprays and an open architectonic cartouche containing a crowned head, in the center laurel wreath containing a rampant lion (OHR 1860, fer 2) with a solid rose tool on each side and smaller rose tools above and below, traces of 2 pairs of brown fabric ties, spine with 6 full and 2 false bands, arms in central compartment, horizontal title “PAVL IOVII | HISTOR.” in second compartment, azured quadrilobe or tulip in other compartments, edges gilt. (Spine ends and corners restored.)
provenance: Bartolomeo Cenami (armorial supralibros) — Marcel Chatillon (d. 2002; Ader Tajan & Bernard Clavreuil, Paris, 30 March 1992, lot 39), purchased by — unidentified owner (FF 18,500). acquisition: Purchased from Librairie Thomas-Scheler, Paris, 1992. 
references: FB 72136; USTC 152481; for the binding, cf. Balsamo, “Les reliures d’un Italien de la Cour de Henri IV” in Bulletin du Bibliophile (1991), pp. 412–415.