Sale 2488 Lot 110

LIVIUS, TITUS. Las Quatorze Decadas. Spanish translation by Pedro de la Vega. Title and colophon page printed in red and black, and with large color-printed woodcut arms of Emperor Charles V on title and full-page woodcut of the enthroned Emperor surrounded by courtiers on verso; over 300 half-page woodcut illustrations, including many repeats, printed from the blocks for the 1505 Mainz first edition in German. [4], 533, [9] leaves, with colophon leaf bound after table at end. Folio, 276x193 mm, 18th-century mottled sheep with leather lettering piece, worn overall; margins trimmed entering some sidenotes at beginning and end, stain on top and fore edges toward beginning slightly showing internally, occasional marginal soiling, foxing, and minor stains, some leaves toned, repair in blank lower margin of L2, scattered early underscoring and cropped marginalia, blank last page of table filled with early annotations. Bookplate of Mary S. Collins. (Zaragoza: Jorge Coci, 24 May 1520)

Estimate $3,000 - 5,000

first edition of this translation, the second into Spanish but first entirely from the original Latin; the 1497 rendering by Pedro López de Ayala was made largely from the French version by Pierre Bersuire. "The Livy is one of the most splendid of Jorge Coci's productions . . . The title-page . . . is a remarkable example of four-color printing"--Harvard/Anninger, page 13. Norton 712; Palau 139128 ("magnífica edición").