In 1989, Anthony Hobson relocated from Verona to Padua a small group of bindings decorated with tools of varied character, including a lozenge-shaped ropework or everlasting knot tool, a rectangular ropework tool repeated to form a border, a foliage roll, a large fleur-de-lis, and a distinctive medallion stamp of a helmeted warrior, facing right, with lettering around “*d* also*”, encircled by a wreath.¹ On several occasions, this modest kit of tools was used with great ingenuity. Hobson considered the binder “a craftsman of outstanding originality,”² with “a classical sense of design wholly in the Paduan tradition.”³ Judging by the texts contained within the bindings, Hobson supposed that he was a bookseller-binder specialised in medical books and works of Aristotelian philosophy. From the near absence of gilt decoration, and the economical use of materials - many are half-bindings of wooden boards with goatskin spines (cheaper than full leather), with waste-sheets from other publications employed as endleaves and pastedowns⁴ - Hobson deduced that he was catering for impecunious students at the university.

Twenty-two bindings are here tentatively associated with this Paduan workshop. They contain thirty-one books dated between 1487 and 1525; twenty-six are Venetian imprints (the others were printed at Milan, Parma, and Naples). The university at Padua was a centre for the study of Aristotle and nearby Venice an important centre for the publication of Aristotle’s works and commentaries, so it is no surprise that ten of the books are commentaries on Aristotle: two on the Analytica posteriora (nos. 1; 15 in List below), seven on the Metaphysica (nos. 2/1-2; 5/1-2; 10/1, 3; 13), and one on De anima and De caelo et mundo (no. 10/2). Several commentators had taught at Padua; some of the editors were Paduan professors working for Venetian printers.⁵ Five other volumes are law textbooks (nos. 6, 18-21) and three are medical books (nos. 3-4, 8). Five bindings cover works of other classical authors: Firmicus Maternus (no. 8), Lactantius (no. 11), Titus Livius (no. 12), Ovidius Naso (no. 14/1-3), and Valerius Maximus (no. 22); and the remaining three contain works by contemporary writers: a posthumous edition of the orations of Agostino Dati (no. 7), Marcantonio Sabellico’s history of Venice in Italian (no. 17/1), and the allegorical poem in imitation of Dante written about 1400 by the Dominican Federico Frezzi (no. 17/2).

Fifteen of the twenty-two volumes (excepting nos. 3, 8, 11-12, 14, 16, 22) display either an ink drawing of the Pillone (Piloni) family arms, or the remarkable painted decoration which Cesare Vecellio added in the 1580s to the fore-edges of some 170 volumes kept at the family’s Villa di Casteldardo di Trichiana (Belluno).⁶ The foundations of this library were laid by Antonio Pillone (1462-1533). As Antonio is not known to have inscribed his name in any of the books, it is uncertain which were acquired by him, and which were bought by his eldest son, Odorico (1503-1594). Hobson divided the books between them by their subject, presuming that Antonio was interested in the classics, and collected from about 1490 to 1510, and Odorico in books on philosophy and medicine.⁷ The family library was greatly enlarged in the 1550s, when Odorico acquired the collection of his brother-in-law, Bonaccorso Grino (d. 1553). It was Odorico - or possibly his son, Giorgio (1539-1611) - who commissioned Vecellio (1521-1601) to decorate the books.⁸

Details from nos. 10 - 11 - 14 - 18 - 19

The most distinctive of the binder’s tools is the medallion stamp of a helmeted warrior, observed on ten of the twenty-two bindings (nos. 3, 8, 10-12, 14, 16, 18-19, 22). G.D. Hobson interpreted the inscription “d also” as “an abbreviation for Divino Alessandro”.⁹ In 1958, Anthony Hobson demurred: “one is tempted to suppose that this stamp is taken from a medal of Alfonso of Aragon, King of Naples - but no such medal is known to exist”.¹⁰ By 1989, he had embraced his father’s suggestion, and, after failing to identify a direct metallic prototype - a coin, or a medal - proposed that this image of the Alexander the Great as a god might be derived from a (lost) cameo of Minerva belonging to Lorenzo de’ Medici, which Janus Lascaris had adapted (transforming the goddess into a conqueror by adding a helmet and adding Alexander’s name in Greek letters) and used on the bindings of presentation copies of the 1494 Planudean Anthology.¹¹

The stamp used on the Paduan bindings is in no sense a copy of the Medici gem or of the plaquette used for the Anthologia Graeca bindings. The sculptural embellishments of the helmet and cuirass decorated with the gorgoneion are lacking, and the Paduan portrait could not be identified as Alexander without its label. Nor does the stamp seem to be related to a group of Florentine, late 15C, oval or circular plaquettes of Alexander the Great, some lettered “Alisandro” or “Alix”, on which the helmet is invariably ornamented with a lapith and centaur.¹² Most likely, the die was made by a local ottonaio, or brass-worker, working from a generic model of a helmeted warrior. The design recalls medals struck at Padua by Giovanni da Cavino, whose production began about 1520.

Three of the ten bindings decorated by the d also stamp cover incunables (1487, 1490, 1499) and the rest books printed in the years 1516-1525. It is probable that all ten bindings were executed during the 1520s. The earliest of the three incunables (no. 3) and a Sammelband of three books, the latest of which was printed 12 April 1523 (no. 10), have the same, highly unusual design: their full-leather covers are divided by quadruple blind fillets that cross over each other, forming 24 equal squares, with an impression of the Alexander stamp in each square, giving the appearance of a tray in a coin cabinet. No other tools are used in their decoration. The binding on another incunable (no. 11) has a border formed by repetitions of a rectangular ropework tool. While numerous volumes in the Pillone library are decorated with related tools, associated by Hobson with a shop designated “Belluno Bindery B”,¹³ the tool used on no. 11 is a distinctive variant, also found on a Sammelband of three works of Ovid, the latest dated 4 January 1516 (no. 14). Both volumes are full-leather. The d also stamp was used, sparingly, on the two half-leather bindings covering Soccini’s works (4 impressions on each cover), printed in 1524 (nos. 18-19), and on a Valerius Maximus (4 impressions on each cover) printed in 1523 (no. 22). A single impression of the stamp is centred on the full-leather covers of the Firmicus Maternus (no. 8) and Livius (no. 12).

Pillone armorial insignia drawn on inside upper cover of no. 9 (Fasciato d’argento e di nero; alla banda d’ermellino attraversante sul tutto)

Odorico Pillone is recorded as a student in Padua in 1527 (graduated in civil law, 25 June 1527).¹⁴ Five legal textbooks in half-leather bindings (nos. 6, 18-21), decorated to the same pattern, albeit two with the medallion portrait stamp, and two with an arabesque lozenge, may be early purchases of Odorico. The Pillone family arms have been artlessly drawn on their upper covers, with an abbreviated title in Gothic script above, suggesting the organisation of the library before Vecellio’s intervention, and the shelving of the books with fore-edges into the room. The Pillone arms are drawn on the inside of the upper cover of the herbal (no. 9). That volume contains an effaced inscription dated 1534 naming the nobleman Antonio Doglioni of Belluno, father of Giovanni, who graduated at Padua in 1531.¹⁵

some tools employed by the < d also > medallion binder

list of bindings

(1) Aegidius (Columna) Romanus, Excellentissimi artiu[m] [et] sacre theologie doctoris d[omi]ni Egidii Romani Archip[re]ulis biturice[n]is ordinis heremitar[um] s[an]c[t]i Augustini i[n] libros posterio[rum] Arist[otelis] expositio (Venice: Boneto Locatelli, for Ottaviano Scoto, 10 May 1488)

binding
“Ais de bois à demi-recouverts de maroquin brun, décor à froid disposé verticalement de trois compartiments de rinceaux et feuillage enfermant un motif torsadé vermiculé, titre calligraphié en hautes lettres noires sur l’ais de bois du premier plat, dos à trois nerfs orné à froid de larges filets obliques croisés et de petits motifs, quatre fermoirs: une partie de l’ais de bois du second plat refaite. - Fers: 27 et 30” (Berès)

provenance
● Antonio Pillone (1462-1533), or his son, Odorico Pillone (1503-1594); by family descent
● Paolo Maresio Bazolle (fl. 1874)
● Sir Thomas Brooke, 1st Bt (1830-1908), engraved armorial exlibris
● Humphrey Brooke (1914-1988)
● Alan Keen Ltd, London; their catalogue The Venetian library collected at the close of the XVI century by Doctor Odorico Pillone and the sides and edges painted by Cesare Vecellio (London [1947]), item 9
● Pierre Berès, Paris, commemorative exlibris; their catalogue (hors-série) Bibliothèque Pillone (Paris [1957]), item 67 (“Reliure semblable à celle du Socini de 1523 de la Bibliothèque Nationale (Rés. F. 729) aux les armoiries des Pillone”)
● Fiammetta Soave, Rome, sold in 1990 to
● Los Angeles, UCLA, Ahmanson-Murphy Room Incunabula, *A1.G545e (opac Contemporary blind-stamped calf over beveled boards; remnants of three pairs of clasps. Fore-edge painting of author by Cesare Vecellio. Ornamental bookplate, printed in black and gold, on verso of upper board of Pierre Berès: “Livre no. 13 de la Bibliothèque Pillone. Pierre Berès;” below is the large armorial bookplate of Thomas Brooke F.S.A., of Armitage Bridge. [link])


literature
Ellis, op. cit., II, p.666 no. 9 [link]


(2) Antonius Andreae, Quaestiones super XII libros Metaphysicae Aristotelis (Venice: Giovanni De Gregori & Gregorio De Gregori 15 October 1495), bound with Antonio Trombetta, Opus doctrinae Scoticae in Thomistas (Venice: Girolamo Paganini, 1493)

binding
“Ais de bois à demi-recouverts de maroquin noir, décor à froid disposé verticalement de quatre compartiments délimités par des bordures torsadées vermiculées et enfermant un motif à quatre éléments, titre calligraphié en hautes lettres noires sur l’ais de bois du premier plat, dos à trois nerfs orné à froid de larges filets obliques croisés, restes de quatre fermoirs. - Fer: 30” (Berès)

provenance
● Antonio Pillone (1462-1533), or his son, Odorico Pillone (1503-1594); by family descent
● Paolo Maresio Bazolle (fl. 1874)
● Sir Thomas Brooke, 1st Bt (1830-1908), engraved armorial exlibris
● Humphrey Brooke (1914-1988)
● Alan Keen Ltd, London; their catalogue The Venetian library collected at the close of the XVI century by Doctor Odorico Pillone and the sides and edges painted by Cesare Vecellio (London [1947]), item 13
● Pierre Berès, Paris, commemorative exlibris; their catalogue (hors-série) Bibliothèque Pillone (Paris [1957]), item 64 (“Reliure semblable par le style et par l’inscription du premier plat à celle du Socini de 1523 de la Bibliothèque Nationale (Rés. F. 729), qui porte les armoiries des Pillone.”)

literature
Ellis, op. cit., II, p.667 no. 13 [link]


(3) Articella, [Articella seu Opus artis medicinae] (Venice: Battista Torti, 20 August 1487)

binding
“Pelle scura senza cartoni; dec. a secco: quadruplici filetti orizzontali e verticali formano 24 quadrati entro cui vedesi impressa una testa di armigero con la leggenda d. also il cui significato non ci riesce di spiegare” (De Marinis)

provenance
● Verona, Biblioteca civica, Inc. 203

literature
De Marinis, op. cit., no. 2529 & Pl. 424
Ernst Kyriss, “Italienische Einbände der Spätgotik im Ausland” in Studi di bibliografia e di storia in onore dal Tammaro De Marinis (Verona 1964), III, pp.35-44 (p.43 no. 3)


(4) Articella, Articella. Ista sunt opera que in hoc preclaro libro continentur. Primo est liber joannitij qui dicitur isagoge in greco. Secundo libellus de pulsibus philareti. Tertio est libellus Theophili de vrinis. Quarto sunt hyppocratis aphorismi in ordinem collecti. Quinto sunt aphorismi eiusdem cum commento Galieni. Sexto liber pronosticorum cum translatione noua & antiqua. Septimo liber regiminis acutorum continens quattuor particulas. Octauo est liber epidimiarum hyppocratis cum commento 8. particulas continens. Nono est libellus hyppocratis qui intitulatur de natura fetus. Decimo liber Galieni qui dicitur tegni siue ars parua. Undecimo libellus Gentilis de fnlgineo [i.e. Fulgineo] de diuisione &c. Duodecimo libellus qui dicitur iusiurandum (Venice: [s.n.,] 14 June 1513)

binding
“Ais de bois à demi-recouverts de maroquin fauve, cadre en hauteur de bandes décorées à froid, dos à trois nerfs plats orné de larges filets obliques à froid, restes de quatre fermoirs” (Berès)

endleaves
“Papier de gardes: fragments d’un traité de droit, impression italienne du début du seizième siècle (88G)” (Berès); “flyleaves are portions of a large-format printed work of canon law responsiones” (Sotheby’s 1997)

provenance
● Antonio Pillone (1462-1533), or his son, Odorico Pillone (1503-1594); by family descent
● Paolo Maresio Bazolle (fl. 1874)
● Sir Thomas Brooke, 1st Bt (1830-1908), engraved armorial exlibris
● Humphrey Brooke (1914-1988)
● Alan Keen Ltd, London; their catalogue The Venetian library collected at the close of the XVI century by Doctor Odorico Pillone and the sides and edges painted by Cesare Vecellio (London [1947]), item 84
● Pierre Berès, Paris, commemorative exlibris; their catalogue (hors-série) Bibliothèque Pillone (Paris [1957]), item 65
● Dr. Crawford W. Adams (1915-2003), exlibris
● Sotheby Parke Bernet, Fine medical books from the collection of Crawford W. Adams, M.D., including early printed books, a fine collection of editions of Vesalius, fore-edge paintings from the Pillone Library, books on cardiology, New York, 5 May 1982, lot 12 (“Contemporary half sheep over wooden boards, covers and spine panelled in blind, remains of four clasps; slight worming. Fore-edge painting by Cesare Vecellio of a doctor in red robe and headress, background blue and green”)
● unsold (estimate $3000-$5000) [RBH 4857-12]
● Sotheby’s, Fine books and manuscripts including Americana, New York, 25 November 1997, lot 4 (“Contemporary half sheepskin over reverse-bevelled beechen boards, fillet-panelled with a single rather indistinct S-shaped tool, remains of four clasps catching on trapezoidal catchplates on lower cover; the fore-edge painted with a depiction of a doctor in red robes… the top and bottom edges painted in a marbled pattern”) [offered among “Property of Various Owners”]
● unidentified owner - bought in sale ($6500) [BAR 95, p.31]

literature
Ellis, op. cit., II, p.674 no. 84 [link]


(5) Avicenna, Metaphysica [Liber de philosophia prima siue scientia diuina, edited by Franciscus de Macerata & Antonius Fracantianus; translated by Dominicus Gundissalinus] (Venice: Bernardino Vitali for Girolamo Duranti, 26 March 1495), bound with Thomas Aquinas, Interpretatio in Metaphysicam Aristotelis (Venice: Simone Bevilacqua, for Alexander Calcedonius, 20 December 1493)

binding
“Ais de bois à demi-recouverts de maroquin brun, décor en long de quatre rectangles de rinceaux avec motifs en torsade au centre, dos à trois nerfs orné de larges filets croisés, quatre fermoirs dont trois intacts; fente au second plat. - Fers: 27 et 30” (Berès 1957)

provenance
● Antonio Pillone (1462-1533), or his son, Odorico Pillone (1503-1594); by family descent
● Paolo Maresio Bazolle (fl. 1874)
● Sir Thomas Brooke, 1st Bt (1830-1908), engraved armorial exlibris
● Humphrey Brooke (1914-1988)
● Alan Keen Ltd, London; their catalogue The Venetian library collected at the close of the XVI century by Doctor Odorico Pillone and the sides and edges painted by Cesare Vecellio (London [1947]), item 23
● Pierre Berès, Paris, commemorative exlibris; their catalogue (hors-série) Bibliothèque Pillone (Paris [1957]), item 66; their Catalogue 67: Un groupe de livres Pillone (Paris [1975]), item 4

literature
Ellis, op. cit., II, p.668 no. 23 [link]


(6) Bartolus de Saxoferrato, [Super prima parte Digesti novi cum additionibus Alexandri Tartagni; Repetitio legis: Caesar De publicanis] (Venice: Andrea Torresano, 24 July 1493)

Image courtesy of Federico Macchi

binding
“Leg. in assi con dorso di cuoio dec. a secco: interlazzi, rosette a 8 lobi e crocette. Sopra l’asse anteriore si vede disegnato uno stemma, di mano contemporanea o dei primi del sec. XVI. Taglio grezzo.” (De Marinis)

provenance
● Antonio Pillone (1462-1533), or his son, Odorico Pillone (1503-1594); by family descent
● Gerolamo Gaslini (1877-1964), his donation in 1944 to
● Genoa, Biblioteca Universitaria, Gaslini 112

literature
Tammaro De Marinis, La Legatura artistica in Italia nei secoli XV e XVI (Florence 1960), no. 2024bis (among Venetian bindings)
Mostra di legature dei secoli XV-XIX (Genoa 1975), no. 14 (“Legatura veneziana su assi; piatti parzialmente ricoperti in pelle marrone impressa a secco con rabeschi, interlazzi, crocette e rondelle. Sulla parte lignea del piatto anteriore, stemma disegnato e scritta recante nome dell’autore e titolo dell’opera abbreviati; quattro fermagli in pelle e metallo sbalzato; dorso a quattro nervi.” [link])
Donatella Benazzi, Gli incunaboli ‘G. Gaslini’ della Biblioteca universitaria di Genova: catalogo (Rome 1993), p.73


(7) Agostino Dati, Augustini Dathi Senensis Opera nouissime recognita omnibusque mendis expurgata (Venice: Agostino Zani for Peter Liechtenstein, 3 January 1516)

binding
“Ais de bois à demi-recouverts de maroquin brun orné à froid de petits fleurons ronds et de motifs vermiculés torsadés, dos à quatre nerfs sans décor, restes de fermoirs” (Berès 1957)

endleaves
“Papiers de gardes provenant d’une édition vénitienne indéterminée de la fin du quinzième siècle de Johannes Canoninus, Questiones super Physicam Aristotelis” (Berès) [perhaps Franciscus Sanson, edition Venice: Johannes Rubeus Vercellensis, for Alexander Calcedonius, 8 Feb. 1496 - istc is00163000]

provenance
● Antonio Pillone (1462-1533), or his son, Odorico Pillone (1503-1594); by family descent
● inscription, “Quelques notes manuscrites et prix d’achat inscrit au recto du premier feuillet de garde: Op(er)a Augustine Dathi mota L. 2 D 10” (Berès)
● Paolo Maresio Bazolle (fl. 1874)
● Sir Thomas Brooke, 1st Bt (1830-1908), engraved armorial exlibris
● Humphrey Brooke (1914-1988)
● Alan Keen Ltd, London; their catalogue The Venetian library collected at the close of the XVI century by Doctor Odorico Pillone and the sides and edges painted by Cesare Vecellio (London [1947]), item 48
● Pierre Berès, Paris, commemorative exlibris; their catalogue (hors-série) Bibliothèque Pillone (Paris [1957]), item 68; their Catalogue 67: Un groupe de livres Pillone (Paris [1975]), item 11

literature
Ellis, op. cit., II, p.670 no. 48 [link]


(8) Firmicus Maternus, [Scriptores astronomici veteres, part only: Aratus, Arati solensis phaenomena cvm commentariis, in Latin and Greek, from] Iulii Firmici Astronomicorum libri octo integri, & emendati, ex Scythicis oris ad nos nuper allati: Marci Manilii Astronomicorum libri quinque; Arati Phaenomena Germanico Caesare interprete cum commentariis & imaginibus; Arati eiusdem Phaenomenon fratmentum Marco T.C. interprete; Arati eisudem Phaenomena Ruffo Festo Auienio paraphraste; Arati eiusdem Phaenomena Grace; Theonis commentaria copiosissima in Arati Phaenomena Graece; Procli Diadochi Sphaera Graece; Procli eiusdem sphaera, Thoma Linacro Britanno interprete (Venice: Aldo Manuzio, June and 17 October 1499)

Image courtesy of Federico Macchi

binding
Dark brown or black goatskin, tooled in blind to a panel design, wide outer border formed by repetitions of a rectangular ropework tool, a lozenge formed by repetitions of an acanthus tool, and in the centre a medallion of a helmeted warrior, bust to right, with lettering d also

provenance
● Libreria Antiquaria Mediolanum, Milan; their [Catalogue] New York Antiquarian Book Fair 2022, item 75 (€35,000; binding illustrated)
● T. Kimball Brooker, purchased from the above, 2022 [Bibliotheca Brookeriana #0836]
● Sotheby’s, Bibliotheca Brookeriana: A Renaissance Library. The Aldine Collection N-Z, New York, 25 June 2025, lot 1409


(9) Hortus sanitatis, Ortus sanitatis. De herbis & plantis. De animalibus & reptilibus. De auibus & volatilibus.De piscibus & natatilibus. De lapidibus & in terre venis nascentibus. De urinis & earum speciebus. Tabula medicinalis cum directorio generali per omnes tractatus (Venice: Bernadino Benali & iovanni Tacuino, 11 August 1511)

binding
“Ais de bois à demi-recouverts de maroquin fauve semé de fleurettes à froid dans des motifs géométriques de filets, dos à trois nerfs orné de filets à froid obliques, quatre fermoirs dont un conservé, blason des Pillone dessiné à la plume à l’intérieur du premier plat; second plat fendu anciennement et recousu. Croquis griffonés sur l’ais du premier plat de la reliure.” (Berès 1957)

provenance
● Antonio Pillone (1462-1533), or his son, Odorico Pillone (1503-1594); by family descent
● “Inscriptions manuscrites sur les gardes: 1534. a dj. 9 febraro; une phrase brouillée à l’encre et inachevée: Sia noto a chalcheduna persona chi legera questo (libro) … et plus bas, d’une autre écriture: M (agistri) Antoni Daldojoni” (Berès 1957) [i.e. Antonio Doglioni (Antonio de Doiono), nobleman of Belluno]
● Paolo Maresio Bazolle (fl. 1874)
● Sir Thomas Brooke, 1st Bt (1830-1908), engraved armorial exlibris
● Humphrey Brooke (1914-1988)
● Alan Keen Ltd, London; their catalogue The Venetian library collected at the close of the XVI century by Doctor Odorico Pillone and the sides and edges painted by Cesare Vecellio (London [1947]), item 87
● Pierre Berès, Paris, commemorative exlibris; their catalogue (hors-série) Bibliothèque Pillone (Paris [1957]), item 69 (“Ce livre est avec le Socini de 1523 de la Bibliothèque Nationale le seul volume connu portant le blason des Pillone; celui-ci est dessiné à l’intérieur du premier ais de bois plus nettement que sur le Socini où il est placé à l’extérieur. … Étant donné la présence sur ce volume du blason des Pillone, il y a peut-être lieu de rapprocher l’inscription Antoni Daldojoni qui s’y trouve de la légende d also qui est frappée sur la médaille décorant la reliure du Socini de la Bibliothèque Nationale.”); their Catalogue 60: Manuscrits & livres du quatorzième au seizième siècle (Paris 1963), [no item number; FF 75,000]
● Upperville, VA, Oak Spring Garden Foundation, OW-Drawing: E-B5 (opac, link)

literature
Ellis, op. cit., II, p.674 no. 87 [link]
Anthony Hobson, “The Pillone Library” in The Book Collector 7 (1958), pp.39-37 (p.34: “This has at the end a long medical note dated 1534 in a hand (presumably Odorico Pillone’s) frequently found in the late volumes. The note probably serves to date the bindings, which may represent Odorico’s first additions to the library after his father’s death.”)
Lucia Tongiorgi Tomasi & Tony Willis, An Oak Spring Herbaria: Herbs and Herbals from the Fourteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries: A Selection of the Rare Books, Manuscripts and Works of Art in the Collection of Rachel Lambert Mellon (New Haven 2019), pp.19-23 no. 3 [link]


(10) Jean de Jandun, Questiones in duodecim libros metaphysice ad intentionem Aristotelis et magni commentatoris Auerrois subtilissime disputate (Venice: Boneto Locatello for Heirs of Ottaviano I Scoto, 1505), bound with Jean de Jandun, Questiones Joannis Jandoni de celo et mundo (Venice: Heirs of Ottaviano I Scoto, 1519), bound with Antonius Andreae, Questiones Antonij Andree super XII libros metaphysice nouissime diligenti examine recognite (Venice: Heirs of Ottaviano I Scoto, 1523)

binding
Brown goatskin over pasteboard, covers divided by quadruple blind fillets in a grid pattern, in each compartment a circular stamp of a helmeted Alexander the Great, lettered d. also, in each square; calligraphic title-label on the upper cover; remains of 4 pairs of green silk ties; spine with three full bands, compartments decorated with a saltire composed of 4 blind fillets. The fore-edge is painted with a portrait of Jean de Jandun standing, with pen, at a lectern, and with title “io jan”; top and bottom edges painted in a marbled pattern.

endleaves
At front, a waste sheet from a copy of the third text in this volume (bifolium a3-a4); at back, waste sheets from Ottaviano Scoto’s 1519 edition of Thomas Aquinas, Metaphysica Aris. duplicis translationis cum expositione (b✠, bb10). [The printed waste was misidentified by Berès, op. cit., 1957, as derived from Goff A-584 (Venice, 1491), i.e. Antonius Andreae, Quaestiones super XII libros Metaphysicae Aristotelis (Venice: Boneto Locatelli, for Ottaviano Scoto, 8 August 1491; cf. Hobson, op. cit. 1958, p.34, also mistakenly: “All three volumes [nos. 8, 14-15 in this List] have endleaves apparently from the same Venetian incunable: Gaietanus de Thienis, Expositio in Aristotelem, 1498.”]

provenance
● Antonio Pillone (1462-1533), or his son, Odorico Pillone (1503-1594); by family descent
● Paolo Maresio Bazolle (fl. 1874)
● Sir Thomas Brooke, 1st Bt (1830-1908), engraved armorial exlibris
● Humphrey Brooke (1914-1988)
● Alan Keen Ltd, London; their catalogue The Venetian library collected at the close of the XVI century by Doctor Odorico Pillone and the sides and edges painted by Cesare Vecellio (London [1947]), item 17
● Pierre Berès, Paris, commemorative exlibris; their catalogue (hors-série) Bibliothèque Pillone (Paris [1957]), item 70
● Jaime Ortiz-Patiño (1930-2013)
● Sotheby’s, The Jaime Ortiz-Patiño collection of important books and manuscripts, New York, 21 April 1998, lot 140 [RBH NY7119-140]
● unidentified owner - bought in sale ($134,400)
● Jonathan H. Kagan
● Stéphane Clavreuil Rare Books, London
● T. Kimball Brooker, purchased from the above, 2017 [Bibliotheca Brookeriana #2015]
● Sotheby’s, Bibliotheca Brookeriana: A Renaissance Library: Magnificent Books and Bindings, New York, 11 October 2023, lot 52]

literature
Ellis, op. cit., II, p.667 no. 17 [link]
Hobson, op. cit. 1958, pp.39-37 (p.33 & Pl. 3)
De Marinis, op. cit., no. 2530 & Pl. 423
Kyriss, op. cit., p.43 no. 4
Anthony Hobson, Humanists and bookbinders: the origins and diffusion of the humanistic bookbinding 1459-1559 (Cambridge 1989), p.125 & Fig. 100
Giovanni Grazioli, “La dispersa biblioteca dei conti Piloni di Belluno. Notizie storiche e traversie di un capolavoro del Rinascimento” in Biblioteche Oggi, gennaio-febbraio 1999, 1, pp. 20-26 (p.24) [link]
John Cunnally, Jonathan Kagan & Stephen Scher, Numismatics in the age of Grolier (New York 2001), pp.11-12


(11) Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius, [Opera] (Venice: Theodorus de Ragazonibus, 21 April 1490)

binding
“Brauner Lederband auf Pappe ohne die vier Lederschließbänder mit drei Doppelbünden, Kapitale aus naturfarbigem Garn. Im Oberschnittt in großer Schrift ‘Lactanti’” (Kyriss)

provenance
● Wolf Dietrich Raitenau (1559-1617), Archbishop of Salzburg (1587), insciption “Librum hunc Reverendissimus et Illustrissimus wolfgangus Theodoricus Archiepiscopus salisburg, sedis Apostolicae Legatus fratribus Franciscanis ibidem 1592 dedit Dignus ut fratrem orationibus sit commendatus” (Kyriss)
● Franciscan convent, Salzburg, inscription “Pro bibliotheca Conv.’ Salisburg fr[atru]m Minoz de Observa[n]tia” (Kyriss)
● Ernst Kyriss (1962)
● Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Inc. fol. 9815 (inka, link)

literature
Kyriss, op. cit., p.42 no. 1 & Fig. 6 (Pl. III/16), binding details Fig. 2 (Pl. III/12)


(12) Titus Livius, Titi Liuii Patauini Decas prima [volume 1 (of 4)] (Venice: Heirs of Aldo Manuzio & Andrea Torresano, December 1518)

Image courtesy of Federico Macchi

binding
Brown goatskin over pasteboards, tooled in blind, to a panel design, with ivy leaves in the inner corners, the border filled with curly leaf branch tools, in the centres a medallion head of a warrior lettered ‘d. also’, above and below it a stylised flower surrounded by four of the same and by four ivy leaf tools

provenance
● Modena, Biblioteca Estense Universitaria, D 007 004 (opac Legatura coeva in piena pelle, con impressioni e decori a secco sui piatti e sul dorso [link])


(13) Agostino Nifo, Euthychi Augustini Nyphi philothei Suessani Metaphysicarum disputationum dilucidarium (Naples: Sigismondo Mayr, 1 September 1511)

binding
“Maroquin souple fauve, les plats couverts de compartiments de quadruples filets déterminant pour chaque plat quarante carrés enfermant chacun une grande fleur de lis florentine, étiquette rectangulaire de vélin portant le titre calligraphié sur le premier plat, dos à trois nerfs présentant quatre compartiments de quadruples filets à froid entrecroisés en carré en losange.” (Berès 1957)

endleaves
“Papier de gardes: fragments de Aristote, Opera (Physica), Venise, J. et G. de Gregoriis pour O. Scot, 1495-1496 (GKW, 2340)” (Berès 1957). “Pages from an earlier edition of Aristotle’s Physics have furnished binder’s waste for Nifo’s comments on the Metaphysics, where they appear as a pastedown on the interior of both boards and emerge from the gutter at several locations within the text.” (Brown) “Beide Innenspiegel zeigen Makulaturpapier aus Aristoteles’ Physica, einem Teil der Gesamtausgabe (Opera Aristotelis, vgl. Goff A-965).” (Bassenge)

provenance
● Antonio Pillone (1462-1533), or his son, Odorico Pillone (1503-1594); by family descent
● Paolo Maresio Bazolle (fl. 1874)
● Sir Thomas Brooke, 1st Bt (1830-1908), engraved armorial exlibris
● Humphrey Brooke (1914-1988)
● Alan Keen Ltd, London; their catalogue The Venetian library collected at the close of the XVI century by Doctor Odorico Pillone and the sides and edges painted by Cesare Vecellio (London [1947]), item 65
● Pierre Berès, Paris, commemorative exlibris; their catalogue (hors-série) Bibliothèque Pillone (Paris [1957]), item 71 (“Cette reliure est du même type que celle du Johannes de Janduno ci-dessus. On n’en connaît aucun autre spécimen.”); their Catalogue 67: Un groupe de livres Pillone (Paris [1975]), item 25
● Sotheby’s, Continental books and manuscripts, London, 25 May 2000, lot 93 [RBH L00204-93]
● unidentified owner - bought in sale ($80,250)
● Christie’s, Valuable printed books and manuscripts, London, 8 June 2011, lot 33 [RBH 8021-33]
● Bassenge, Auktion 99: Incunabula. Handschriften, Einzelblätter, Berlin, 18 April 2012 [RBH 99c-724]
● Librairie Thomas-Scheler, Paris; their [catalogue, hors série] Livres précieux / Livres & manuscrits du XVe au XXe siècle (Paris 2014), item 3 (among same group of thirteen volumes from the Pillone library)
● Jörn Günther Rare Books AG, Brochure No. 15: Between Scriptorium and printing press (Basel 2015), item 32 (among “Thirteen books from the celebrated Pillone library with fore-edge paintings by Cesare Vecellio”)
● Jonathan A. Hill, New York
● New Haven, Yale University, Beinecke Library, 2017 +318 (opac, link)

literature
Ellis, op. cit., II, p.672 no. 65 [link]
Hobson, op. cit. 1958, pp.33-34)
De Marinis, op. cit., no. 2533 & Pl. 423
Bellencin, “La decorazione pittorica della Biblioteca Piloni,” op. cit., p.107 no. 23
Andrew S. Brown, Habits Ancient and Modern: Surface and Depth in the Pillone Library Volumes (catalogue for an exhibition at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, 18 January-21 April 2019), pp.14-15 & Figs. 13-16 [link]


(14) Publius Ovidius Naso, Publii Ouidii Nasonis Libri de Ponto cum luculentissimis commentariis reuerendissimi domini Bartholomei Merulae ([Parma]: Ottaviano Saladi, 1508), bound with Publius Ovidius Naso, P. Ouidii Nasonis Libri de tristibus cum luculentissimis commentariis reuerendissimi domini Bartholomei Merulae (Venice: Giovanni Tacuino, 25 June 1511), bound with Publius Ovidius Naso, P. Ovidii Nasonis Libri De Arte Amandi et De Remedio Amoris (Venice: Giovanni Tacuino, 4 January 1516)

binding
“Brauner Lederband auf Pappe mit drei Doppelbünden und Kapitalen aus naturfarbigem Garn. Drei Rahmen, von denen nur die mittlere mit Stempel 2 verziert ist, teilen die beiden gleichen Deckel auf. In der senkrechten Mittelachse des inneren Rechtecks erscheint dreimal ein neuer Stempel, ein großer Knoten ähnlich dem bei De Marinis Tafel 441, abwechselnd mit zwei Stempeln 3” (Kyriss)

provenance
● Salzburg, Universitätsbibliothek, F II 482

literature
Kyriss, op. cit., p.42 no. 2


(15) Paulus Venetus, Expositio in libros Posteriorum Aristotelis (Venice: Boneto Locatelli & Ottaviano Scoto, 8 April 1494)

binding
“Ais de bois à demi-recouverts de maroquin noir, décor à froid disposé verticalement de trois compartiments de rinceaux, titre calligraphié en hautes lettres noires sur l’ais de bois du premier plat, dos à trois nerfs orné à froid de larges filets obliques croisés, deux fermoirs dont un intact.” (Berès 1957)

provenance
● Antonio Pillone (1462-1533), or his son, Odorico Pillone (1503-1594); by family descent
● Paolo Maresio Bazolle (fl. 1874)
● Sir Thomas Brooke, 1st Bt (1830-1908), engraved armorial exlibris
● Humphrey Brooke (1914-1988)
● Alan Keen Ltd, London; their catalogue The Venetian library collected at the close of the XVI century by Doctor Odorico Pillone and the sides and edges painted by Cesare Vecellio (London [1947]), item 12
● Pierre Berès, Paris, commemorative exlibris; their catalogue (hors-série) Bibliothèque Pillone (Paris [1957]), item 72 (“La reliure est traitée exactement comme celle du Socini de la Bibliothèque Nationale.” (Berès); their Catalogue 67: Un groupe de livres Pillone (Paris [1975]), item 28 (illustrated)

literature
Ellis, op. cit., II, p.667 no. 12 [link]


(16) Gaius Plinius Secundus, C. Plinii Secundi Naturalis historiae libri XXXVII e castigationibus Hermolai Barbari, ac codicis in Alemania impressi quam emendatissime editi, addito indice quam copiosissimo, figurisque ad singolorum librorum materiam aptissimis [Prima pars Plyniani indicis editi per Ioannem Camertem minoritanum, sacre theologie doc. in qua (tabelle picte instar) mira litterarum connexione dicuntur ea omnia, geographiam praeter (nam hanc amplectitur pars altera) quae toto Plyniano volumine continent] (Venice: Melchiorre I Sessa & Pietro Ravani, 23 March 1525)

Image courtesy of Federico Macchi

provenance
● Emilio Alfieri (1874-1949)
● Milano, Università degli studi di Milano, A.ALF.ANT. E. 013 (opac ril. in assicelle di legno e pelle con impressioni a secco e fermagli [link])


(17) Marco Antonio Sabellico, Croniche che tractano de la origine de Veneti. E del principio de la cita. E de tutte le guere da mare e terra facte in Italia Dalmacia Grecia e contra tuti li infedeli. Composte per lo excelentisimo mesere Marco Antonio Sabellico. E volgarizate per Matheo Vesconte de Sancto Canciano (Milan: Gottardo Da Ponte, for Oldrado Lampugnani, [ca 1508]), bound with Federico Frezzi, Libro chiamato Quatriregio del decorso de la vita humana in terza rima (Venice: Pietro da Pavia, 30 April 1501)

binding
“Ais de bois à demi-recouverts de maroquin brun, décor à froid, disposé verticalement, de quatre compartiments délimités par des bordures de feuillage et contenant chacun un motif en losange renfermant une aigle à deux têtes couronnée, dos à trois nerfs orné à froid de larges filets obliques croisés; quatre fermoirs dont un conservé. La reliure est tout à fait proche de celle du Socini de la Bibliothèque Nationale mais son décor est composé de quatre éléments au lieu de trois; le motif de l’aigle à deux têtes ne figure sur aucune autre des reliures de cette section.” “Sur la première garde blanche, inscriptions et griffonis à la plume; on distingue parmi ceux-ci l’indication esquissée du décor du blason des Pillone tel qu’il figure dans le dessin du verso du premier plat de l’Hortus sanitatis ci-dessus.” (Berès 1957)

provenance
● Antonio Pillone (1462-1533), or his son, Odorico Pillone (1503-1594); by family descent
● Paolo Maresio Bazolle (fl. 1874)
● Sir Thomas Brooke, 1st Bt (1830-1908), engraved armorial exlibris
● Humphrey Brooke (1914-1988)
● Alan Keen Ltd, London; their catalogue The Venetian library collected at the close of the XVI century by Doctor Odorico Pillone and the sides and edges painted by Cesare Vecellio (London [1947]), item 131
● Pierre Berès, Paris, commemorative exlibris; their catalogue (hors-série) Bibliothèque Pillone (Paris [1957]), item 73; their Catalogue 67: Un groupe de livres Pillone (Paris [1975]), item 36 (“Exemplaire annoté par les Pillone; au début une série d’inscriptions est accompagnée de l’esquisse, à la plume, du blason de la famille.”)

literature
Ellis, op. cit., II, p.678 no. 131 [link]
Bellencin, “La decorazione pittorica della Biblioteca Piloni,” op. cit., p.116 no. 44


(18) Bartolomeo Soccini, Bartholomei Socini Commentaria labore maximo emendata, et plurima hic nuper sunt addita, cum Summarijs suis unicuique legi et paragraphis, simul cum nonnullis regulis iuris carumque fallentis in hac vltima impressione Baptiste de Tortis copiosius adiunctis. Additoque etiam repertorio longe ampliori et prius M.D.XXIIII (Venice: Battista Torti, 15 September 1523)

binding
“The Soccino is in a half-binding. The black morocco spine bears four impressions of the same warrior’s head [as in Jean de Jandun, no. 10 above] within squares outlined by blind fillets, but this time a rosette is stamped at each corner of the square, which is surrounded by a roll forming a continuous border. The title is written in ink on the upper wooden board in the same hand as the title-label on the Nyphus [no. 10 above]; below it are traced the Pillone arms inside a leafy cartouche.” (Hobson 1958)

endleaves
Front: pseudo-Albertus Magnus, Albertus Magnus De apprehensione (Venice: Simone da Lovere, 13 September 1504)
Back: Gaetano Tiene, Expositio in libros Aristotelis De caelo et mundo (Venice: Otino Luna, for Benedetto Fontana, 3 October 1498) 

provenance
● Antonio Pillone (1462-1533), or his son, Odorico Pillone (1503-1594); by family descent
● Labitte, Paris
● Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Rés F-729 (1) (opac Demi-rel. contemporaine de l’éd. issue d’un atelier de Vérone, mar. noir à décor d’empreintes de médailles et ais de bois; armes de la famille Pillone peintes en noir sur le bois du plat sup., fermoirs. Prov.: Odorico Pillone (1506-1594); acquis en 1881 auprès de la librairie Labitte à Paris. [link])

literature
Bulletin mensuel des publications étrangères reçues par le Département de Imprimes de la Bibliothèque Nationale, December 1881, no. 4061 [link]
Bibliothèque nationale, Trésors des bibliothèques d’Italie, IVe-XVIe. siècles. Deuxième édition revue (Paris 1950), no. 348 (“Demi-reliure de maroquin noir. Décor estampé à froid, formé par un médaillon répété quatre fois, représentant une tête casquée, de profil à droite, avec, en exergue, d also. Encadrement de rinceaux, de feuillages et de grappes, à la roulette. Titre abrégé et armes dessinés en noir sur la partie de bois du plat supérieur.” [link])
Enrichissements de la Bibliothèque nationale de 1945 à 1960: dons et acquisitions (Paris 1960), p.145 (“… la Bibliothèque nationale avait pu acquérir en 1881 un exemplaire des Commentaria de B. Soccino (Venise, B. de Tortis, 1523), dont les tranches ne sont pas peintes mais qui porte les armes des Pillone dessinées à l’encre sur l’un des plats de bois” [link])
De Marinis, op. cit., no. 2531 (“Assi e mezza pelle nera con decor. a secco di cornici vegetali e la testa di armigero come ai nn.2529 e 2530. Dorso tondo, liscio; quattro fermagli in rame. Taglio grezzo” [link])
Hobson, op. cit. 1958, pp.33-34
Kyriss, op. cit., p.43 no. 5


(19) Bartolomeo Soccini, Repertorium domini Bartholomei Socini Senensis in quo multa su[n]t addita sub hoc signo [manicule] invenienda. Alphabetico ordine posita Venetijs per Baptistam de Tortis. M.D.XXIIII (Venice: Battista Torti, 4 March 1524), bound with Bartolomeo Soccini, Tabula regularum cum fallentiis domini Bartolomei Socini jureconsulti eminentissimi quibus noviter addite fuerunt nonaginta novem regule cum suis fallentiis sub hoc signo [manicule] inveniende que alias non fuerunt in aliqua impressura reperte suis congruis locis aperte accommodate et in ordinem alphabeticum redacte in hac ultima impressione Baptiste de Tortis (Ventice: Battista Torti, 24 February 1524), bound with Bartolomeo Soccini, [Bartholomei Socini Commentaria labore maximo emendata… (fragment: pp.183-275 only)] (Venice: Battista Torti, 15 September 1523)

binding
“Contemporary North Italian half-binding of black morocco over wooden boards … decorated in four square compartments, each containing a medallion head of a warrior lettered ‘d. also’, each surrounded by a continuous roll of leaves and pine-cones, on the upper board an abbreviated title is written below which the Pillone arms inside an elaborate foliate cartouche have been drawn in ink, four clasps and catches” (Sotheby’s 1967)

endleaves
unidentified edition of Guilelmus Duranti, Speculum Guielmi Duranti cum additionibus ([Venice: Battista Torti, 1516? 1518?])

provenance
● Antonio Pillone (1462-1533), or his son, Odorico Pillone (1503-1594); by family descent
● Anton W.M. Mensing (1866-1936)
● Sotheby & Co., Catalogue of the very valuable and important library formed by the late Mr. Ant. W.M. Mensing of Amsterdam, London, 15-17 December 1936, lot 537
● Francis Edwards, London - bought in sale (£10)
● John Roland Abbey (1894-1969)
● Sotheby & Co., Catalogue of the celebrated library the property of Major J.R. Abbey, Part III, London, 19-21 June 1967, lot 2088
● Georges Heilbrun, Paris - bought in sale (£540)
● Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Rés-F-729 (2) (opac Demi-rel. contemporaine de l’éd. issue d’un atelier de Vérone, mar. noir à décor d’empreintes de médailles et ais de bois; armes de la famille Pillone peintes en noir sur le bois du plat sup., fermoires. Prov.: Odorico Pillone (1506-1594); John Roland Abbey (ex-libris gravé par J.F. Badeley en 1920; vente, III, Londres, Sotheby’s, 19-21 juin 1967, n° 2088); acquis en 1981 (cf. “Revue de la Bibliothèque nationale”, 1982, n° 5, p. 44) [link])

literature
Revue de la Bibliothèque nationale, 1982, no. 5, p.44


(20) Baldo degli Ubaldi, Baldus Super II. parte Digesti veteris, cum eiusdem supra quingentis nouis additionibus, nec non quamplurium doctorum naturalibus & legalibus apostillis mirifice emendatus (Venice: Giorgio Arrivabene, 15 April 1507)

binding
“Contemporary North Italian blind-stamped and rolled half goatskin over reverse-bevelled beechen [sic] boards, two fore-edge clasps and clasps at top and bottom edges, title and Pillone arms within a large cartouche drawn on the board of the upper cover, edges plain" (Sotheby’s)

endleaves
“a leaf of a large-format printed law book used as flyleaf” (Sotheby’s)

provenance
● Antonio Pillone (1462-1533), or his son, Odorico Pillone (1503-1594); by family descent
● Christie’s, Catalogue of books of travel, topography and general literature, London, 19-20 July 1967, lot 311 (“contemporary north Italian half binding over wooden boards, blind-tooled with three rectangular panels with a rosette in each corner enclosing a lozenge-shaped ornament, the panels surrounded by a double band of scrolling foliage, four straps with brass catches, the title and the Pillone arms within an elaborate cartouche painted on the wooden part of the upper cover”) [RBH Jul191967-311]
● Clifford King, London - bought in sale
● Martin Breslauer, London; their Catalogue One hundred and one (London 1970), item 234
● Milton Francesco Rúa (1919-2004)
● Sotheby’s, Fine books and manuscripts including important Americana, New York, 13 June 1991, lot 144 [RBH 6188-144]
● unidentified owner - bought in sale ($3850)


(21) Baldo degli Ubaldi, Baldi de Perusio … Lectura super IIII, V. et VI. codicis cum apostillis clarissimorum doctorum Alexandri de Imo, Andreae Barbatiae Siculi, & postremo Celsi Hugonis Dissuti … summo studio ac diligentia & infinitis erroribus expurgata per … Io. Franciscum de Musaptis Patauinum [vol. 1 of 3 volumes] (Venice: Filippo Pinzi, 1519)

binding
“half-binding of brown morocco over wooden boards, the leather richly blind-tooled; a continuous roll of leaves and pine-cones form four small compartments, with a lozenge-shaped arabesque centre piece and a rosette in each corner; on the upper board the arms of the Pillone family drawn in black ink within an elaborate arabesque cartouche, with short calligraphic title in Gothic script above, saltires formed by blind fillets in the 5 compartments of the back, 4 clasps and catches” (Breslauer)

endleaves
“one free leaf consisting of part of a printed page (Latin), at both ends” (Foot)

provenance
● Antonio Pillone (1462-1533), or his son, Odorico Pillone (1503-1594); by family descent
● Christie’s, Catalogue of books of travel, topography and general literature, London, 19-20 July 1967, lot 312 (“contemporary North Italian half binding of brown morocco over wooden boards, blind-tooled … with the title and the Pillone arms within an elaborate cartouche”) [RBH Jul191967-312]
● Martin Breslauer, London; their Catalogue One hundred and one (London 1970), item 233 (“In an imposing contemporary Veronese half-binding of brown morocco over wooden boards”)
● Henry Davis (1897-1977)
● London, British Library, Henry Davis 790

literature
Mirjam Foot, The Henry Davis gift: a collection of bookbindings, volume 3: A catalogue of south-European bindings (London 2010), no. 274 (“A binding possibly made in Verona or in the Veneto, c. 1524-34”; cf Anthony Hobson, in a review of this catalogue in The Library 12 (2011), pp.60-64: “It was surely bought and bound in Padua. There is nothing to connect it with Verona.”)
British Library, Database of Bookbindings, link


(22) Valerius Maximus, Valerius Maximus nouiter recognitus cum commentario historico videlicet ac literato Oliuerii Arzignanensis (Venice: Guglielmo da Fontaneto, 6 February 1523)

binding
“The blind-printed half-leather binding has the same front and back panels. Blind-line frames divide the leather surface into four equal fields. Each shows a medallion with the inscription “*d* also” (Alexander the Great), a shell ornament in each of the four corners of the fields. It is closed by two clasps extending from front to back.” (Rozsondai, translation)

provenance
● Budapest, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, Ant. 707 (opac, link)

literature
Hobson, op. cit. 1989, p.125
Marianne Rozsondai, “Reneszánsz plakett- és kámeás kötések” in Történelem-kép: szemelvények múlt és müvészet kapcsolatából Magyarországon (Budapest 2000), pp.253-254 no. III-27 (illustrated), 263 [link]