MONTAIGNE. — CORIO (Bernardino). *L'Historia di Milano*. [.. - Lot 57

MONTAIGNE. — CORIO (Bernardino). *L'Historia di Milano*. [...] Along with the Lives of All the Emperors. Venice, Giorgio de’ Cavalli, 1565. Substantial in-4 volume, tan shagreen, blind-stamped strip and gilt fillet framing the title, decorated spine, small coats of arms repeated in the panels, red edges (Binding circa 1860). A very valuable copy of Montaigne’s work, bearing his autograph signature at the bottom of the title page. The volume is listed in the catalog compiled by Alain Legros, who has so far identified 108 books that “survived” from Montaigne’s library: it is listed there as No. 107 (see Alain Legros, “List of Montaigne’s and La Boétie’s Books Preserved or Documented,” online, updated May 26, 2024). Montaigne’s library—which the author regarded as one of the finest among village libraries—comprised approximately one thousand volumes, primarily books on history (Montaigne’s great passion) and belles-lettres. It was dispersed around 1630 and is now known only through these 108 books—roughly one-tenth of the library—which are now regarded as precious relics, bearing witness to the habits and intellectual pursuits of the author of the Essays: At home, I turn to my library a little more often [...]. There, I leaf through one book at one moment, another at the next, without order or purpose, in disjointed fragments: now I daydream, now I record and dictate, as I stroll, the thoughts that come to me. [...] It is on the third floor of a tower [...]. When I was young, I studied for the sake of ostentation; later, a little, to settle down; now, to amuse myself [...] (Essays, III, 3). The list compiled by Alain Legros includes 20 books in Italian, among them a work on the Tiber (Bacci, *Del Tevere*, no. 8), Julius Caesar’s *Commentari* (no. 24), the love dialogues of Leon the Hebrew (no. 55), Mauro’s *Antichita della città di Roma* (no. 62), a work by Petrarch (no. 75), and a work by Strabo (no. 89). We do not know under what circumstances Montaigne acquired this *History of Milan* (first edition, 1503), which the historian Bernardino Corio (1459–1519) had been commissioned to write at the request of the Duke of Sforza. In any case, the subject may have interested Montaigne, who was very fond of the stories his father, Pierre Eyquem, told him about the Italian Wars—the latter participated in the Seventh War and returned to his estates in 1529 (see Concetta Cavallini, L'Italianisme de Michel de Montaigne, 2003, p. 74): this expanded edition indeed covers events from the Italian Wars up to 1535. The capital of Lombardy does not seem to have made much of an impression on the humanist during his trip to Italy in 1580–1581. We know that he made a brief stop there, lasting barely two days; after leaving Pavia on October 26, 1581, and making a detour to see “the plain where it is said that King Francis I’s army was defeated by Charles V” (at the Battle of Pavia in 1525), Montaigne arrived in Milan: It is the most populous city in Italy; it is large and teeming with all kinds of artisans and merchants. It bears a fair resemblance to Paris. One does not find there the beautiful palaces of Rome, Naples, Genoa, or Florence, but it surpasses them in size. On the 27th, he decided to visit the castle’s grounds; he stayed there all day because of a heavy downpour that set in, then set out again the next morning. This copy belonged to Count Eugène de Porry (1829–1884), a literary figure from Marseille and a correspondent for several learned societies, including the Académie du Var, as evidenced by his small coat of arms stamped on the spine and his name in gold lettering at the end. It is interesting to note that this writer’s family is a distant branch of the ancient Milanese House of Porri, which settled in France under Louis XIII and whose name is mentioned by Bernardino Corio in his book. Slight water stain at the corner of the last 5 quires. An initial “S” on folio ††1 (dedication to the cardinal) was cut out and restored without decoration; the text on the reverse was rewritten in pen at the time of binding (3 x 2.5 cm).

Estimate:$33,578.85

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