[Rarebooks] FS: 1st ed. of Cardinal Castellesi's treatises on Latin prose style. Rome: 1515

[karmbooks at aol.com]

Castellesi, Adriano, Cardinal (or, Castellensis, Hadrianus). DE SERMONE
LATINO, ET MODIS LATINE LOQUENDI. (Rome: Marcellus Silber. October
1515). Folio. ff.106 (including the final blank). Title within a fine
woodcut composite border enclosing the author's coat-of-arms
hand-colored in red at an early date. A good, wide margined copy in
18th century calf over marbled boards with vellum corners & 2 spine
labels. Linen slip-case.  $3,500.00 (trade discount allowed)
First edition of these treatises on Latin prose style taken from
classical authors and dedicated to the future Charles V. The author
(1460-1521) was an influential Cardinal who played an important role in
the activities of the church in England. His writings, of which DE
SERMONE LATINO is most well known, were attempts to restore the Latin
tongue to its pristine purity. The title-border is a classic and this
is an early instance of its use. The four fine wood blocks of which it 
is
composed also occur in books printed by Mazzocchi (for whom Silber
worked) and Etienne Guillery, although the top block seems to have been
used less than the other three (see the HARVARD ITALIAN CATALOGUE #331
& #445). Sander 3346; not in Adams. BL Italian page 155.

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