TOLOMEI, Claudio (1492-1555) - De le Lettere di M. Claudio Tolomei Lib. sette con una breve dichiarazione in fine di tutto l'ordine de l'Ortografia di questa opera. Venice: Gabriel Giolito de Ferrari, 1547.   First edition of one of the most successful collections of letters of the Italian Sixteenth century. The text is composed in italic characters compliant with Tolomei's theories of phonetic spelling, which were however abandoned in subsequent editions. Some of Tolomei's letters had already appeared, with or without the author's permission, in the anthologies of Manutius and Gherard of the early 1540s. This edition was published with the author's approval, but not under his supervision, probably thanks to the push of Lodovico Dolce, Giolito's editorial collaborator.   4to (212 x 145mm). Large printer's device on title and at end, woodcut initials, small woodcut map of Tuscany at V1 (some soling and foxing, two small holes on title, small wormtrace to inner margin of some leaves not touching text from E1 to F4). Contemporary limp vellum, manuscript title on spine (modern endpapers). Provenance: Josephu Crivelli (early ownership inscription on title) - some early annotations in the margins - illegible stamp within a green frame on title.

Estimate € 250 - 350