Emblemata cum privilegiis by MACCIO, Paolo (circa 1570-1640) - 1628

Bologna: Clemens Ferronius, 1628. 4to (199 x 141 mm). Roman and italic type. Engraved title within typographical border, dedicatory plate of the Madonna and Child, and 81 engraved emblematic illustrations in text, all surrounded by typographic borders. Contemporary limp vellum. Internal hole in G4 affecting text. Provenance: Lomace Le Patrice (early signature on front free endpaper; contemporary shelfmark in ink on title); from the Collection of Arthur & Charlotte Vershbow, purchased from Emil Offenbacher, 1960. FIRST EDITION of this charming emblem book. The fine engravings are the work of Bolognese engravers Oliviero Gatti (b. circa 1595), who designed 52 of the emblems, and Giovanni Battista Coriolano (circa 1587-1649), who signed the title and 26 emblems. Both were pupils of Giovanni Luigi Valesio. The remaining engravings are by Agostino Parisini after designs by Florio Maccio, a pupil of Ludovico Carracci. Quotations from Greek and Latin classics and a short Italian poem accompany the 81 emblems. Cicognara 1913; Landwehr, Romanic 496; Praz, Studies in Seventeenth Century Imagery, II, pp. 101-102.