De' ragguagli di Parnaso [...] centuria prima [-seconda]. In questa seconda impressione da molti errori diligentemente espurgata

[Bound with:] IDEM. Pietra del paragone politico tratta dal Monte Parnaso dove si toccano i governi della maggior monarchia del Universo. Di Troiano Boccalini. Impresso in Cormopoli per Ambros Teler, MDCXV [i.e. Venezia, December 1614].

Ragguagli: two parts, 4to. [56], 478, [2]; [36], 453, [3] pp. Collation: a-c⁸ d⁴ A-Gg⁸; a⁸ b¹⁰ A-Ee⁸ Ff⁴. Leaves Gg8 of part one and Ff4 of part two are blank. Pietra: 4to. 138, [2] pp. Collation: A-R⁸ S². Leaf S2 is a blank.

Fourth edition of Centuria prima and third edition of Centuria seconda of De' Ragguagli di Parnaso. Reissue of the first edition of the Pietra del paragone politico.

Ragguagli: Italian Union Catalogue, IT\ICCU\TO0E\001302; Piantanida, no. 3563; L. Firpo, I “Ragguagli di Parnaso” di Traiano Boccalini: bibliografia delle edizioni italiane, Sansoni, 1955. Pietra: Italian Union Catalogue, IT\ICCU\TO0E\003114; L. Firpo, Le edizioni italiane della “Pietra del paragone politico”, in: “Atti della Accademia delle Scienze di Torino”, I, vol. 86, 1951-52, pp. 84-85, no. 4.

Two works (the first divided in two parts) in one volume (224x162 mm). Contemporary vellum over boards with overlapping edges, inked title on spine, blue edges (slightly soiled and stained, lacking ties). Manuscript ownership entry on the first title page dated 1629. Occasionally slightly browned, some marginal foxing, small loss of paper on the outer blank margin of leaf not affecting text, all in all a very good, genuine and wide-margined copy.

[Offered together with:]

BRIANI, Girolamo (1581-1646). Aggiunta a' Ragguagli di Parnaso del molto Illust. & Eccellentiss. Sig. Traiano Boccalini cittadino romano. Intitolata parte terza, nella quale si contengono cinquanta ragguagli, & un solenne convito fatto in Parnaso, per Girolamo Briani cittadino modonese. Venice, Giovanni Guerigli, 1616.

8vo (159x103 mm). [24], 151, [1] pp. Collation: a¹² A-H⁸ I¹². Printer's device on title page. Contemporary vellum, inked title on spine (soiled). Manuscript ownership entry on title page dated 1732. A good, genuine copy.

Rare edition of Briani's addition to Boccalini's Ragguagli.

Piantanida, 3563.

In 1605, Boccalini set aside the project of a commentary on Tacitus, which he had been pursuing for several years, in order to devote himself entirely to writing short stories, which are imagined to be narrated on Mount Parnassus by Apollo, while the author, who is also present, describes the world that surround him, inhabited by famous people of all ages and allegorical figures. Much of the Ragguagli di Parnaso had manuscript circulation, especially in Piedmont and more generally in anti-Spanish circles, but when the author decided to have them printed (1612-13), he made a strict selection, leaving the politically more compromising ones for an eventual posthumous edition. Such was the success of the Ragguagli that within a few years the number of editions and translations exploded. A few publishers then managed to get their hands on the unpublished material and printed the first five in 1614 under the title La cetra d'Italia, then shortly afterwards a dozen as La quinta essenza della ragion di stato, and finally in December 1514 thirty “ragguagli” under the title Pietra del paragone politico. This last edition, appeared anonymously and with no printing data, supplanted the previous ones and had an immense circulation; within a few years there was a proliferation of counterfeits, reissues and translations in all the major European languages.

Boccalini completed his early studies in Loreto, his hometown, at the local Jesuit college, where Giovanni Botero also taught for a few months in 1563. In 1578 he enrolled in the faculty of law at the University of Perugia, where he devoted himself also to literature and got to know the poet Cesare Caporali, author of a poem entitled Avvisi di Parnaso (1582). After 1580 he moved to Padua, where he had G. Menochio, F. Mantica and F. Zabarella as teachers. In 1584 he left for Rome and married a great-granddaughter of pope Pius V Ghisleri. In 1590 Boccalini became secretary in the house of Spinola in Genoa. In 1592, following the election of Clement VIII, he received the governorship of the small Umbrian town of Trevi, where he remained until 1594. After a brief stay in Tolentino, he moved on to Brisighella. In 1596 he was appointed lieutenant of Scipione Gottifredo, who governed over Benevento. It was during these years that he became critical of Spanish ruling in Italy. In 1599 Boccalini was appointed criminal judge in Rome. In 1603 he was assigned to Comacchio, where he remained until 1605, then he moved to Bagnocavallo, Argenta and Matelica. In 1610 he returned to Rome, where he worked to obtain an imprimatur for his Ragguagli di Parnaso. In 1611 he was sent to Sassoferrato, in 1612 to Nocera Umbra. He died in Venice on November 29, 1613, shortly after the appearance in print of the first and second “centuria” of the Ragguagli (cf. D.B.I., XI, pp. 10-19).

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