[Genoa, Republic]. Leggi nuove della Republica di Genova, con le dichiarationi, e gionte, riposte à suoi luoghi [...].

Genoa, [Antonio Roccatagliata], 1584.

8vo. (16), 214, (2) pp. With woodcut title-vignette. Later half calf over marbled boards with giltstamped spine-label.

 2,800.00

The first edition to feature the laws of the maritime republic in Italian and Latin parallel text. This pocket-size digest reflects the 1528 constitutional reform as well as the laws implemented after the 1575 civil war, which pitted the wealthy "old" nobility against the rising merchant class, the so-called "new" nobility. In addition to several hundred laws and regulations, the present edition is extraordinarily rich in personal names, listing about 400 delegates of the Consiglio Maggiore, as well as the persons admitted to or excluded from the seminary since 1576. The work was first published in 1576 in Latin and saw an Italian translation by the lawyer Giovanni Paolo Pianta in 1577. This 1584 edition was edited by Gabriello Pelo.

The index, which is usually bound at the end, is placed after the foreword in the present copy. Contemporary ownership with the handwritten initials "B.G." to title-page. A description of the book from a Milanese bookseller's catalogue (dated by hand November 1961) is loosely inserted. Extremities slightly rubbed, paper slightly browned throughout; pp. 3-16 with small traces of worming near upper gutter. Rarely seen at auction.

References

Edit 16, CNCE 20653. Manno, Bibliografia di Genova VI, 25309. BM-STC Italian 295. Manzoni, Bibliografia statutaria e storica italiana I, 211. Fontana II, 20. Bibl. enato III, 289.

Stock Code: BN#56081 Tags: , , ,