Biondo, Flavio. Historiarum ab inclinatione Romanorum... Lot 50

Biondo, Flavio. [Historiarum ab inclinatione Romanorum imperii decades, begins on the first leaf]: Decadis primae Liber primus Blondi Flavii Forlivie(n)sis historiarum ab inclinatio(n)e Romanoru(m) liber primus. [With the Additiones by Johannes Antonius Campanus]. Venice, Ottaviano Scoto, August 16, 1483. fol. Roman type, 42 lines and headline; printed in one column. 371 unnum. (with the first white leaf; without leaf s10; numbering of quires: a-l8, m-r10, s1-9, t-z10; A10-C10, D8, E8, F10-M10, N8-S8). With a beautiful Renaissance border on the first printed leaf, with a large painted initial "R", at the foot a coat of arms cartouche with the coat of arms of Cesare Borgia as Duc de Valentinois. Modern calf binding with gilt-stamped spine title and blind-stamped spine and cover ornaments; fragment of an old (Venetian ?) binding with the portrait of Julius Caesar set into the front cover. ISTC no. ib00698000. BMC V, 277 (IB 21194). Goff B-698. First edition of the main work of the Forli-born humanist (1392-1463), the history of Europe from the fall of Rome to Biondo's present day, based on the most reliable sources. Biondo wrote the work in the years 1439-1453, applying the then emerging three-division scheme - antiquity, Middle Ages, modern times - to his historical work. Biondo's historical work is the first to have a truly European perspective: "Il valore delle 'Decades' consiste, oltre che nell'accurato studio critico delle fonti, nel fatto che per la prima volta vi è tracciato un quadro complessivo della storia non solo italiana ma europea, in cui, ed è questo un altro aspetto originale, anche l'età medievale è vista come un periodo di preparazione alla età moderna, e quindi, per quanto di decadenza, degno di studio" (Dizionario enciclopedico della letteratura italiana, I, 383). - The coat of arms on the first page suggests that this is Cesare Borgia's copy; Cesare Borgia had borne the coat of arms as the first Duc de Valentinois since 1498 - the enfeoffment with the duchy in Provence was King Louis XII's thanks for the fact that Cesare Borgia's father, Pope Alexander VI, had divorced the French king's marriage. Cesare Borgia had excelled as a student at the universities of Perugia and Pisa. It is quite possible that he actually read the thick volume. Unfortunately, the numerous contemporary marginalia in the volume are not in his hand. They are by two different contemporary hands - one has a very beautiful and easily legible typical secretarial handwriting, the second is a wilder hand. The marginalia have been trimmed somewhat during binding. Some foxing throughout, occasional traces of moisture. Moisture damage in the outer margins of the last fifty or so leaves has been expertly restored with paper strips. The worst defect is the absence of leaf s10.