Aldine Imprint

Venetiis [Venice]: ad signum Spe[ranza], m.d.liiii. [1554]. In Latin. 163 x 108 mm (6 ¼ x 4 ½ in). Octavo. [56] ll. Woodcut title vignette: A feminine embodiment of hope stands on a shore, facing the sun, surrounded by crates and trunks; a ship sails off in the background; the motto reads: ​“Beatus vir, cuius est Dominus spes eius: and non respexit in vanitates, and insanias falsas”

Ink stamp on title page of the Biblioteca del convento dei Chierici Regolari Teatini di San Michele e Gaetano a Firenze. Manuscript price beneath imprint.

USTC 818240

EDIT16 8826

Although oclc WorldCat reports 10 library holdings in the U.S., this tract is scarce in the trade. Rarely at auction and at the time of cataloguing no other copies for sale. 

Bound with:— Campegii, Tommaso. Opus Thomae Campegii bononiensis, episcopi feltrensis, Auctoritate, and Potestate Romani Pontificis, and alia opuscula, quae indicantur in sequienti pagina.

Venetiis [Venice]: Apud Paulum Manutium Aldi F., m.d.lv. [1555].163 x 108 mm (6 ¼ x 4.5 in). Octavo. [12], 223, [1] ll. Large woodcut of anchor and dolphin printer’s device on title. In Latin.

Bound in quarter leather over marbled boards. Gilt spine decorations and lettering. Handwritten edge titles on top and bottom edges. Marbled endpapers. Bookplate on front pastedown: ​“Ex Libris James Stevens Cox.” Cox (1910–1997) was primarily a wigmaker, but also a bookseller, archaeologist and publisher.

USTC 818241

EDIT16 8827

Overall very good; top edge soiled. 

Tommaso Campegii (1483–1564) was bishop of Feltre, Italy and one of the three bishops present at the opening of the Council of Trent in 1545, and there assisted at the sessions held under the pontificate of Paul III. This book contains first editions of two of Campegii’s main works. 

Wide ranging discussion on virginity and celibacy. The first work, De Coelibatu, is a scarce tract on virginity and celibacy, a topic that Campegii introduces as: [“Nothing is more praiseworthy, than that which is praised by those who hate it.”]. He follows with an overview of 98 far-reaching aspects of not having sex. Campegii starts with a legal analysis concluding that virginity is commended among all nations and all laws. What follows is a discussion of how Jesus Christ demonstrated by his example how important virginity is. Then Campegii discusses the lack of sex by the Apostles and includes a section on the Vestal Virgins. He concludes that virginity is a virtue akin to being an angel. Marriage, which he considers worthy of virginity, figures prominently in the text (including the question of whether celibacy should exist within marriage). He also addresses whether carnal union outside of marriage can cause marital dissolution. The celibacy of priests and monks and the rational for [“places not defiled by woman’s affairs”], which I presume refers to monasteries, are also covered. 

Aldine imprint. The second work is an Aldine imprint of Campegii’s treatise on the power of the Pope (ff.1–116), followed by 19 shorter theological treatises. Campegii starts by informing us that [“Christ would not have been a loving householder if he had left no one on earth to rule the Church in his place.”]. The Pope, for example, is empowered to clarify all Church doctrine ambiguities. Further, the Pope cannot submit to a council and be judged. The text also discusses the process by which the Pope can be assisted; for example, how texts should be laid out for him, or how the Pope should be advised of crimes. 

The Aldine Press is famous in the history of typography, among other things, for the introduction of italics. The press was the first to issue printed books in the small octavo size, like that of a modern paperback, and as we have on offer here. The printer’s device of an anchor and dolphin is, of course, infamous.