SPRETUS, Desiderius (1414-c.1474)

Los 70
10.12.2025 12:00UTC +00:00
Classic
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
VeranstaltungsortVereinigtes Königreich, London
Aufgeldsee on Website%
ID 1514474
Los 70 | SPRETUS, Desiderius (1414-c.1474)
Schätzwert
£ 5 000 – 8 000
SPRETUS, Desiderius (1414-c.1474)
De amplitudine, vastatione, instauratione urbis Ravennae. Edited by Jacobus Francus. Venice: Matteo Capcasa (di Codeca), 4 September 1489.
First edition of the first printed work in the field of Roman epigraphy: no complete copy is recorded at auction since the Feltrinelli copy at Christie’s New York in 1997.

The text chronicles the political and cultural history of Ravenna, focusing on its decline under the Polenta family and its revival under Venetian influence. With the Renaissance revival of interest in classical antiquity, a number of scholars and travellers compiled collections of Greek and Latin inscriptions, and Spreti's assemblage of Ravenna inscriptions was the first such collection to be printed; it long predates the first printed collection of inscriptions from Rome itself (Epigrammata antiquae urbis, Rome: J. Mazzochi, 1521). The author surveys the early history of Ravenna and describes a few of the Byzantine churches and monuments, concluding with seven pages of transcriptions of carved monument inscriptions found throughout the city. The work was reprinted at least once in the 16th century (BM/STC listing a 1588 edition), and an Italian translation appeared in 1574. No other works are known by this author. ISTC lists only one copy in America, at the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. HCR 14963; BMC V 483; BSB-Ink S-531; GW M43172 Goff S-688; ISTC is00688000.

Chancery quarto (218 x 156mm). (Light staining at lower outer corner.) 18th-century speckled calf, decorated in blind and gilt (rubbed, loss at head of spine, front board detached, lower joint cracked).
Adresse der Versteigerung CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
Vereinigtes Königreich
Vorschau
10.12.2025 – 10.12.2025
Telefon +44 (0)20 7839 9060
E-Mail
Aufgeld see on Website
NutzungsbedingungenNutzungsbedingungen

Verwandte Begriffe

× Ein Suchabonnement erstellen