Bibliothecæ Alexandrinæ icones symbolicæ … elogiis illustratæ
Milan: Giovanni Battista Bidelli, 1628. 4to, 9 5/8 x 7 inches (244 x 178 mm); (xii) + 140 pp, not including plates and inscriptions. Engraved architectural title with Saints Peter and Alexander by Francesco Bassano, 16 copperplates of female figures; woodcut dropcaps and tailpieces throughout.
Later (circa 1890) red levant morocco binding by R. Petit (signed in gilt on front turn-in) with triple gilt frames on boards, raised bands, gilt title and decorative motifs in compartments; inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, professionally re-hinged preserving original richly gilt backstrip in compartments; title and preliminaries stained, occasional spotting or light soiling and a few small light ink stains to covers.
Provenance: Robert Hoe (blue morocco book label); The Lamberts (bookplate, inscribed), gifted by them to John Barrymore (bookplate).
[Praz p.349].
Elegantly illustrated and bound copy with a notable pedigree that spans from Robert Hoe—the businessman, collector, and founding member of the Grolier Club in 1884— to "The Lamberts" (probably purchased in the epic Hoe library auction of 1911-1912), who gifted it to the colorful and famous actor John Barrymore. Their bookplates adorn the inside covers, will your bookplate be next?
The Latin text covers the iconographic representation of the arts and sciences: from Law to Theology, from Medicine to Astronomy, from Eloquence to Architecture...
The 16 copper plates were engraved by Cesare Bassano and are drawn from a collections of paintings in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the library of the Collegio San Alessandro in Milan.
ROBERT HOE (1839-1911) was a businessman and collector. He was the preeminent manufacturer of printing press equipment was a founding member and the first president of the Grolier Club 1884. He built what was considered the finest library in America which included two copies of the Gutenberg bible. When his library was sold in 1911-1912 it at auction it netted over 2 million dollars. This copy is no. 1271, in the "Catalogue of the Library of Robert Hoe of New York" vol. 3.
Condition: Very good+.
Item number: 1487
Price: $6,250.00
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