Descrizione

4to (210x133 mm). Collation: [π⁴] a-z⁴ A-O⁴. [151 of 152] ll. (missing the blank leaf O4). Italic type, blank spaces for initials with guide-letters, final colophon. Later stiff vellum, spine with six raised bands and with manuscript title, gilt edges (small restoration to the bottom of the spine, slightly soiled). Antonio Blado's device to the front paste-down, small ownership entries at the front flyleaf. Some leaves slightly stained, but a good, wide-margins copy.
First edition of the Federico Vedramin's italian translation of four Ciceronian phylosophical works. This is variant B containing the advice to readers (l. π4), dated 1540, by the humanist from Treviso Agostino Beaziano (ca. 1490-1549). This is the first time that the works De gli uffici, Della amicitia, Della vecchiezza and Le paradosse are printed together. The work comprises some classic Ciceronian treatises on ethics, society and personal conduct. In particular, De gli uffici is a moral handbook on duty, ethics, and the honourable path in life; Della amicitia is a philosophical dialogue exploring the nature, value, and obligations of true friendship; Della vecchiezza is a comforting and pragmatic essay on ageing and embracing the later stages of life; and Le paradosse is a brief text in which the author defends famous Stoic paradoxes (e.g. "Only the wise man is free").
Federico Vendramin was Venetian scholar who served as podestà of La Badia. He died in 1534.
Edit 16, CNCE12228; BMSTC Italian, p. 177; Graesse, Tresor de livres rares et precieux, 1900, p. 185; Adams, C-1745; Index Aureliensis, 137.801; Schweiger, I, p. 247; F. Federici, Degli scrittori latini e delle italiane versioni delle loro opere, Padua, 1840, p. 27.