(PINELLI, Maffeo).

Bibliotheca Maphaei Pinellii...magno iam studio collecta, a Jacobo Morellio...descripta.

Engraved frontis. port., one folding facsimile, & 5 engraved plates. Six vols. 8vo, cont. boards (some rubbing & wear, occasional & mostly marginal dampstaining), uncut. Venice: L. Basilius, 1787.

One of the most important Italian private library catalogues. Vols. 1-3 consist of the classical and oriental books (7953 titles) and Vols. 4 and 5 describe the Italian literature, MSS., incunabula, French, English, and Spanish books, books on vellum, medals, etc. (4610 titles and items). The final volume comprises the very useful indexes. Morelli, the compiler, was librarian of the Marciana.

"This catalogue is one of the best ever executed, not only from the value and number of the curious works described in it, but also for the valuable bibliographical notices of Morelli. The Pinelli collection of books long held a distinguished rank among the libraries of Europe: it was upwards of 200 years forming by the family, and comprehended an unparalleled collection of Greek, Roman, and Italian authors, from the origin of printing; with many of the earliest editions printed on vellum, and finely illuminated; a considerable number of curious Greek and Latin MSS. (biblical, legal, and classical), from the 11th to the 16th centuries..."­Horne, p. 721.

The whole collection was bought by the English bookseller James Edwards for £6000 and was sold at auction in London in 1789 and 1790.

Good uncut set. Russian library stamp on title dated 1878.

❧ Brunet, III, 1899–“Catalogue curieux et fort recherché.” De Ricci, p. 89. Peignot, p. 118–“Ce catalogue est un des meilleurs qui existent, tant par la valeur et le nombre des ouvrages curieux qui le composent, que par la manière dont il est rédigé, et par les notes savantes dont l’a enrichi le célèbre M. Morelli. Maphée Pinelli, directeur de l’imprimerie ducale à Venise, avoit l’une des plus belles bibliothèques de l’Europe.” Pollard & Ehrman, pp. 204 & 265. Taylor, pp. 97-98.

Price: $3,500.00

Item ID: 434