Antoninus, Saint, archbishop of Florence

Royal 4to (267 x 188mm.), 71 leaves (of 74, without blank leaf 7/10 and lacking two text leaves), 1-7¹⁰ 8² 9², 33 lines, roman letter, first leaf with later 7-line inhabited initial with portrait of St Antoninus and marginal floral decoration (a later pastiche of contemporary decoration), 2- and 3-line initials in red or blue with manuscript guide letters, red and blue paraphs, a few early annotations, nineteenth-century half calf with new spine and corners, lacking two text leaves, washed with loss of blue ink and some annotations, paper slightly browned, last leaf soiled with paper repair at lower corner, boards slightly rubbed

Joseph William Moss (1803-1862), author of Manual of Classical Bibliography (1825), inscription at front; Law Society, armorial bookplate

Goff A790; R 1126; BMC vii 1128 (as Rome: Petrus de Torre); GW 2083 (as Milan: Antonius Zarotus); A. Ganda, I primordi della tipografia milanese: Antonio Zarotto di Parma 1471-1507 (Florence: Olschki, 1984), appendix no. 223

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A rare edition (11 copies recorded by ISTC), one of five printed in Italy in 1472. They were preceded by at least three editions printed by Ulrich Zel in Cologne, the earliest being of 1468. GW 2083 assigned this edition to Antonius Zarotus in Milan, which is clearly incorrect. The type fount is different from those of Zarotus, and is apparently unique to this work. As noted by Victor Scholderer, the paper stock, with Hound watermark, is of the type of Briquet 3645, recorded in Rome, Naples and Palermo, late 1460s to mid 1470s. The British Library copy contains a lengthy  inscription in rubricator’s ink stating that the work (liber iste) was "Actus et finitus" at Rome, on the fifth Ides of August 1472, at the order of Petrus Gundisalvi Dela Tore, Dominican of Burgos, Spain. It is noteworthy that a preliminary "Forma initiandi confessiones", extracted from an anonymous brief confessional work found in many manuscripts and appearing in the fifteenth century only in this edition, is here attributed to the Spanish Dominican St Raymond of Penafort.

There is a long manuscript note in English on the front endpaper regarding the text of this edition, which is signed in pencil "Jos. Will. Moss, Mag. Hall, Oxon", and a short note in Italian at the end, recording the death of the writer's mother in 1594.