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HIERONYMUS, Saint (347-420). Epistolae [in Italian]. - Lupus de OLIVETO. Regula Monachorum ex epistolis Hieronymi [in Italian]. Ferrara: Laurentius de Rubeis, 12 October 1497
HIERONYMUS, Saint (347-420). Epistolae [in Italian]. - Lupus de OLIVETO. Regula Monachorum ex epistolis Hieronymi [in Italian]. Ferrara: Laurentius de Rubeis, 12 October 1497 2 o (319 x 221 mm). Collation : \Kp\k 4 , a 1 0 , b-i, K, l-m 8 , n-o 6 , p-r 8 , s-x 6 . 8 , y-z, & \\j R A-N 6 . 274 leaves. Type 105R. 48 lines. 2 full-page xylographic titles, 2 full-page woodcut borders, the first repeated once, the second repeated twice, 188 column-width woodcut text illustrations including repeats, white-vine and white on black woodcut initials, printer's woodcut device on f. CCLXVII. (First title restored, with some letters in facsimile, repaired tear on \\j5 crossing text, some occasional pale browning, small burn hole on R5, several small wormholes catching some letters.) Russet niger by Douglas Cockerell, dated 1904 (front cover detached). Provenance : Petri Ginori-Conti (bookplate); AK (etched bookplate); acquired from Gazzini, 1969. FIRST EDITION IN ITALIAN, AND THE FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION. One of the finest and most celebrated illustrated Italian books of the 15th century. This and the De claris mulieribus by Bergomensis of the same year are considered the masterpieces of Ferrarese book illustration. It is also the only illustrated edition of St. Jerome's Epistles of the 15th or early 16th centuries, and the only 15-century edition in Italian vernacular. All the woodcuts are original to this edition. "The artist is a most conscious humorist in the wonderful variety of facial expressions he gives to St. Jerome's lion, offering its naive comment on the various episodes of the saint's life. As illustrations of contemporary custom, the woodcuts in the last section of the book, dealing with the rules of monastic life, are particularly interesting" (Hind). This copy includes the four leaves of Vita at the beginning, not found in all copies. It also includes the large woodcut of St. Jerome writing on fol. 5 instead of the printed dedication to the Duchess of Ferrara that fills that space in some copies. BMC VI, 614; BNCI H-109; BSB-Ink H-257; Goff H-178; HC 8566; Hind, Woodcut II, 509 ff. with 2 figures; IGI 4746; Sander 3404; Schaëfer 155.