[Rarebooks] FS: Rare ed. of Della Casa's "Il Galatheo..." Rome: 1560

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Della Casa, Giovanni. IL GALATHEO... Nel Quale Sotto la Persona d'un Vecchio Idiota Ammaestrante un Suo Giouanetto, Si Ragiona. De Modi, Che Si Debbono O Tenere, O Schifare Nella Commune Conversatione. Rome: per Valerio Dorico. 1560. 8vo. ff.(1),66. Lacks final blank. Small woodcut plaque on title page. Old (early 17th century?) limp vellum, soiled. A few light spots and stains.	$750.00 (trade discount allowed)
A rare edition, probably the fourth. It was first printed in Venice in 1558, together with Della Casa's  RIME E PROSE, then separately at Milan (very rare) and then Florence: Giunta. 1559/1560, a much more common edition than this one. This is his most important and most widespread work. In essence it is a treatise on good manners with long passages on dress, speech (and what words and jokes to avoid), deportment and how to conduct oneself at table, with stern strictures on drunkenness. But beyond this it is also a compendium of moral teachings derived from the author's wide experience and refined culture. The work became so popular that its title, "Galateo" passed into the Italaian language as a synonym for etiquette. It was first published in English in 1576, and was still being printed into the 19th century. Censimento CNCE 16465 (2 copies). Not in BMC, Adams or OCLC.


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