VALERIANO BOLZANO, Pierio (1477-1558): - Lot 172

VALERIANO BOLZANO, Pierio (1477-1558): leroglifici, overo commentari delle occulte significationi de gli Egittii, & d'altre Nationi composti per l'eccellente Signor Giovanni Pierio Valeriano da Bolzano di Bellune | Accresciuti di due Libri dal Sig. Celio Augustino Curione. Venice, Antonio e Giacomo de Franceschi, 1602. In-folio, (12 ff), 919 pp. Contemporary full vellum (Some minor defects to a headband and corners. Upper spine split. The folding plate lii5 has been trimmed in width by about 1 cm. Worm bites in the margins at the end of the book. Some slight light dampening.) Rare first edition of the Italian translation of this work on the occult meaning of Egyptian hieroglyphs, first published in Latin in Basel in 1556. Valeriano, secretary to Cardinal Julius de' Medici, had free access to the Vatican's Egyptian collections, as well as to Italy's private cabinets. Illustrated with numerous in-text woodcuts, his work is an essential guide to Renaissance iconography. Provenance: Bibliothèque humaniste du Morbihan.