Sumptuous and famous ducal binding created and painted in Venice in 1581
for the Doge Nicolo da Ponte.
Venice, 1581.
Ducal binding. Ducal commission. [Instructions given by the Doge Nicolò da Ponte to Paulo Lauretano, magistrate and military leader of Treviso.]
Manuscript on vellum.
Venice, circa 1581.
Quarto manuscript in-4 (223 x 144 mm) of 195 ff.
Bordeaux morocco, boards adorned with sunken panels forming compartments covered with patterns painted in red and black on a gold background, coat of arms of the Republic of Venice (lion of Saint Mark) at the center of the front board, spine with raised bands adorned with slanting fillets, gilt edges. Venetian binding of the period. Modern case, label “Bibliophilia Bern”.
231 x 150 mm.
Precious manuscript preserved in a beautiful Venetian 16th-century binding, of “dogal” style, painted and decorated in relief in a style heavily influenced by Arab tastes.
Manuscript on vellum skin of 195 leaves, written in Latin (f° 1-122r°) and Italian (f° 122-188r°) in elegant cursive writing, with 22 lines per page. The verso of the first leaf includes an opening in large gilt letters with adorned initials.
These instructions were issued by the Doge and generally contain the letter of appointment and the laws and decrees governing the position.
Commission issued by Nicolò da Ponte, Doge of Venice from 1578 to 1585. It is covered with a very beautiful binding known as “dogal”, painted and decorated in relief, characteristic of bindings made in Venice in the second half of the 16th century. The front board is adorned with the Lion of Saint Mark.
The earliest bindings of this type cataloged by de Marinis date back to 1573; they became increasingly sumptuous, culminating 20 years later with the painted bindings like the one presented here. They were often reused to cover other books, and the miniature that sometimes embellished the first leaf has generally disappeared.
De Marinis catalogs fifteen bindings of this type; of the 4 owned by the Morgan Library, 2 are incomplete of the first leaf and 2 others of part of the text.
These beautiful Venetian bindings, with very rich and harmonious decorations, are very rare in private hands.
Provenance: Giovanni Moschini (manuscript ex-libris on f° 100r°: “Giovanni Moschini anno 1827 II [sic] 9 aprile”), Giovanni Angelini (?), manuscript ex-libris crossed out on the penultimate guard leaf.
Purchased from Lardanchet bookstore (1991 catalog, n°59). This ducal binding was one of the highlights of the catalog with color reproduction.
De Marinis thus catalogs 15 bindings of this type, many of which are textually incomplete. Raphaël Esmérian owned one, it sold for 64,000 FF (≈ 10,000 €) on June 6, 1972 (First part, n°77), 51 years ago, and resold for 270,000 FF (41,200 €) on June 3, 1994 (n°31) 29 years ago.
