Description

Benci, Spinello. Storia di Montepulciano di Mons[ign]or Spinello del Cap[ita]no Marcello Benci, dedicata al Sereniss[imo] Principe Giovancarlo di Toscana, di nuovo Ristampata, Ampliata, e Ricoretta. Libri Sei. In Fiorenza, per d’Amador Massi MDCXLVI. Con lic.de Sap. [xvi; 153] Quarto, 24 cm. Second edition, corrected and improved. Now bound in nineteenth century quarter vellum over marbled paper boards. Gilt-stamped leather label on spine. Bookplate of Bernadine Murphy [Donahue], named a Papal Countess by Pope John XXIII and the wife of Sir Daniel Donahue. A fine copy.

Engraved coat-of-arms on title-page, followed by Benci’s dedications to the Prince, the City of Montepulciano and an address to the reader. The full-page engraving of the Etruscan king, Porsena, signed Andreas Sansovinus (Andrea Sansovino 1467 – 1529) precedes the table of contents, printed in double columns. The errors and corrections made in this second edition follow the table of contents, with a page of six official approbations. Bibliographic glosses printed in the margins, citing Livy on the still-prized wine of Montepulciano: “Produce il terreno di quei colli, frutti esquisiti, e preziosi vini; suave non meno al gusto, che preseverativi dell’una vita.” Benci served Giovanni Carlo di Medici as First Secretary, and was himself a high-ranking clergyman, becoming a cardinal in 1644. As histories are usually long detailed accounts, Benci’s history is, by contrast, short and recounts the personages and artistic culture and architecture of this region. See: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani – Volume 8 (1966). Autori Italiani del Seicento, Libreria Vinciana: 877.

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