Beschreibung:

VERINI, Giovanni Battista (fl. 1520s). Incipit liber primus elementorum litterarum. [Toscolano: Alessandro Paganini, c. 1527?]. First edition, of exceptional rarity, of one of the most beautiful Renaissance handwriting manuals – a complete and remarkably well-preserved copy. Only one other complete copy has been sold at auction (Christie’s, 2005) in the past forty years. Following from, and expanding on, Pacioli’s and Leonardo’s example in the Divina proportione (1509), Verini shows in the first three parts of his book how to pen the letters of various classical alphabets according to geometric proportions, while in the fourth part, departing from the conventions of the genre, he showcases more modern scripts, used by the increasingly powerful merchant classes, like cancelleresca and mercantile - presented facing a gothic knotted alphabet. Verini’s modernity lies perhaps in his examining the two great script systems – humanistic and gothic – side by side, without asserting the former’s superiority. Cited by Gesner and Doni, his work remains one of the most accomplished and enduringly attractive sets of alphabetical specimens of the Renaissance. Brunet V, 1138: 'Ouvrage singulier, rare et peu commun'; Berlin Cat. 5179; Sander 7551: 'Les quatre parties ne se trouvent presque jamais reunies'; Adams V, 570; G. Manzoni, Studii di bibliografia analitica , pp.140-8. 4 parts in one volume, quarto (205 x 140mm); with divisional titles, white-on-black woodcut border to titles and numerous woodcuts and engravings throughout showing a great variety of fonts, handwriting specimens and templates for the letters of the alphabet (lower margin of first title-page repaired with a narrow paper strip and one or two other infills to the outer margin just touching edge of the woodcut frame, one or two marginal small worm-holes, a few edges frayed, occasional light staining.) Modern patterned-paper boards (corners bumped). Provenance : Marcellinus Altesius, 1623 (Augustinian canon at Lecceto near Siena, his inscription on title recording receipt of this book as a gift from the vicar general of his order, Camillus Florentinus) – Marcantonio Borghese V (1814-1886, bookplate).