Description

[Mirabilia Roma Urbis BOUND with Indulgentiae Ecclesiarum Urbis Rome ] Anonymous Rome Marcello Silber 1522 Leather 8vo 8" - 9" tall Very scarce post-incunable edition of the famous marvels of the City of Rome, bound, as is common, with a work on the indulgences of the churches of Rome. With 8 full page woodcuts, papal arms and large initial. In two parts: [55] (of 56) , + [8] ff. [A8-g8 (missing a1) plus the 8 unnumbered leaves of the Mirabilia without signatures or catch phrases.] Printing information on the Indulgentiae on g8 (lacks title). Leaves have old hand-inked page numbers continuous through both parts. Small marks and occasional light stains,first few leaves have damp mark at bottom edge, first leaf has marginal losses at bottom and stronger marks, old neat ink notation at top of leaf, date of 1522 written in. The Mirabilia has no title, colophon nor illustration, it is 22/23 lines with the only woodcut being the small first initial. In renewed leather boards with a new handsome spine with 5 raised bands and gilt. Renewed endpapers. Handsomely printed in Gothic type with 8 magnificent full page woodcuts plus the insignia on a2. The lines on the legendary Pope Joan have been neatly crossed out. The Mirabilia Romae is a rare text, one of the first printed guide books to the marvels of the Eternal City. The tradition of the Mirabilia started in the medieval period as a guide for the use of Pilgrims, combining Christian beliefs and the mythology and history of Rome. "Unhampered by any very accurate knowledge of the historical continuity of the city, the unknown author has described the monuments of Rome, displaying a considerable amount of inventive faculty," according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. The printer of this work is Marcello Silber, who ran the family establishment in Rome until 1527. His father, Eucharius Silber, had printed a number of earlier editions of the Mirabilia, including a 1491 incunable edition. This work with its wonderful woodcut illustrations is scarce in any edition. The Indulgentie conforms to G-250 of Rossetti's Rome I, with 24 lines. We have not been able to identify which Mirabilia Rome Urbis this is: although the printing looks like Silber, the paper is not the same as the Indulgentiae and as far as we can tell it does not conform to any of the Mirabilia in OCLC, Rossetti, Sander, nor USTC. A very attractive copy inside and out. Provenance: the Joseph Mendham collection. WE ARE LOCATED IN CANADA but we can ship using USPS International Customers -- we may be able to ship more cheaply than we show - please e-mail us to see what we can offer to your location. US Customers - We ship twice or more a week using the US Postal Service via our courier from Canada to our mailing address in New York and then on to US addresses.We are able to offer competitive rates with this service, but if you require quicker shipping, please inquire. For books over $799 we may ship via CanadaPost from Toronto. Canadian customers -- we may have to charge HST/GST for Canadian purchases (generally 5% for books). However, shipping is generally lower than on ebay's shipping cost calculator. Email me with your province and I'll be happy to calculate HST and shipping. We are happy to combine shipping! For our international customers, import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying. These charges are normally collected by the delivering freight (shipping) company or when you pick the item up -- do not confuse them with additional shipping charges. We really cannot show merchandise below value or mark items as "gifts" - it can get us into all kinds of trouble with customs. Since Brexit, shipping to the UK may require a VAT invoice. We have been selling books for over 20 years and pack and ship them with care. Thanks for bidding and thanks for being a fellow book lover. See our other listings for more unusual and rare books.