Cornazzano, De re militari, Venice, 1515, contemporary half stamped calf over wooden boards

CORNAZZANO, ANTONIO

De re militari novamente impresso. Venice: Alessandro Bindoni, 26 September 1515

8vo (150 x 101mm.), woodcut illustration on title-page, woodcut initials, manuscript notes at foot of each leaf of quire F (indicating the text is misprinted), with final blank leaf, contemporary half stamped calf over wooden boards, single clasp, n1-2 torn at upper corner with loss of a few words, occasional light browning, binding worn, lacking spine covering

The humanist Antonio Cornazzano (1429-1484) worked for the Sforza and for the condottiere Bartolomeo Colleoni before obtaining the post of poeta in the Este court. He also worked as a press corrector for Nicolas Jenson in 1470-1471. Like Machiavelli, Cornazzano juxtaposed ancient and contemporary warfare.

Cornazzano's military tract, heavily indebted to Valturio, was originally written in prose and dedicated to Ercole d'Este in around 1476. He then turned it into terza rima (dedicated to Federico da Montefeltro) which is the version printed here by Bindoni. The woodcut is taken from a 1493 edition of Livy. See lot 109 for the 1518 edition.

LITERATURE:

Edit16 13319; Sander 2173; R. Bruni and D. Zancani, "Antonio Cornazzano, le opere a stampa", La Bibliofilía 86 (1984), 1-61, p. 28, Arte militare C

PROVENANCE:

Thomas Francis Fremantle, armorial bookplate