Boccaccio (Giovanni)

Genealogie…cum micantissimis arborum effigiationibus cuiusque gentilis dei progeniem...Eiusdem De montibus et silvis de fontibus lacubus et et fluminibus…, title in black and red with woodcut printer’s device, 13 full page genealogical trees at the beginning of each section, large and small decorated initials, title repair to inner margin, A2 slightly torn at gutter, occasional spotting or marking, a few leaves browned, contemporary bibliographical note to title head, occasional marginalia, nearly contemporary vellum boards, morocco label to spine with lettering piece, spine head scuffed, stained, [STC French, 71; Renouard, ’Inventaire chronologique’ II, 63, 24; not in Adams], folio, Denis Roce & Ludwig Hornken, Paris, 1511.

*** Scarce Paris edition of the ‘Genealogiae deorum’ by Giovanni Boccaccio, printed for the first time in Venice by Vendelino da Spira in 1472, and from 1481 including the text of ‘De montibus silvis, fontibus liber’. The 1511 edition is characterised by the elegance of the type and the decorative apparatus. It also includes Boccaccio’s dictionary of geographical references in classical literature, as well as a comprehensive index for the whole book. Giovanni Boccaccio worked on his 'Genealogy of the Pagan Gods' until his death in 1374. For nearly two hundred years the work remained the most comprehensive guide to pagan mythology available. The woodcut genealogical trees, inspired by those which Boccaccio had commissioned for his original manuscript, became an attractive selling point for the print version. They served as a rough guide to the interrelations of the gods, and made each section more navigable.