Poggius Florentinus, 8 March 1476

POGGIUS FLORENTINUS (1380–1459). Historia Florentina, in Italian. Translated by Jacopo di Poggio. Venice: Jacobus Rubeus, 8 March 1476.

First edition of Poggio’s history of the Florentine Republic from 1350 to 1455. Translated into Italian by his son Jacopo and printed using Jenson types, Poggio’s Historia was one of three Italian translations commissioned by the Florentine merchant Girolamo Strozzi, all to be printed by Jacobus Rubeus. Accounting records from Strozzi show that in June 1475 a scribe was paid to copy out Jacopo’s translation to prepare the work for print. Remarkably, this manuscript exemplar survives as Yale University Library, Beinecke MS 321, in addition to Strozzi’s records which are now held by the Archivio di Stato in Florence. Lotte Hellinga, ‘Poggio Bracciolini’s Historia Fiorentina in Manuscript and Print’, La bibliofilía 115.1 (2013), 119–134. HC(+Add) *13172; BMC V 215; BSB-Ink B-789; Bod-inc P-417; CIBN P-531; GW M34604; Goff P-873; ISTC ip00873000.

Chancery folio (300 × 207mm). 115 leaves (of 116, without final blank). Large illuminated backward initial N on burgundy ground. 19th-century illumination on a1-3, including spurious arms of Francesco di Filippo Valori on a1 (occasional spotting). 18th-century Parisian red morocco by Derôme, triple fillet gilt borders on covers, gilt titling and floral motif in spine compartments, gilt edges (rubbed at extremities); custom box by AKA Bindery. Provenance: Jesuit College, Paris (erased title-page inscription) – illegible armorial stamps under illuminations on a1-3 – G. Gancia (his sale, Paris, 27 April 1868, lot 1005; description on flyleaf) – Pouget de Nadaillac family (bookplate) – Freeman Bass (fl. 1955, co-founder of the William Morris Society; bookplate).