Monsignor Della Casa - Opere - [Galateo] - 1733

5 LUXURIOUSLY GILT-BOUND VOLUMES IN PARCHMENT - GOOD MANNERS IN SOCIETY: THE GALATEO
Excellent specimen of this “Opera Omnia” of the most famous “Maître de savoir-vivre.”
Some works, such as the Galateo, appear in versions more corrected than in previous editions; others, like the tract An sit uxor ducenda, a witty discussion on the propriety of taking a wife, are printed here for the first time. A work of great typographical care. Splendid five-volume exemplar of Giovanni Della Casa’s Complete Works, published in Venice in 1728 for the type of Angiolo Pasinello. This edition is considered one of the most accurate and typographically curated of the eighteenth century. It includes some works in emended versions, such as the famous Galateo, and unpublished texts, among which the Latin tract An sit uxor ducenda, published here for the first time.
Imposing and elegant eighteenth-century edition of Giovanni della Casa’s Works, a central figure in the literary and moral culture of sixteenth-century Italy. Printed in Naples in 1733, the work reconstructs, in monumental form, the thoughts and style of an author who made decorum, measure, and linguistic authority a true ethical system. The presence of a calcographic frontispiece with the author’s portrait, wood-engraved vignettes on the title pages, and a rich ornamental apparatus engraved, place the edition in a representative dimension, destined for cultivated and institutional libraries. A corpus that unites classicism, moralism, and typographic prestige.
MARKET VALUE
The complete eighteenth-century editions of Giovanni della Casa’s Works, in multiple volumes with calcographic apparatus, are regularly present on the Italian and European antiquarian market. For a six-volume set of the Neapolitan edition of 1733, in contemporary bindings and with declared defects, a realistic estimate lies roughly between 500 and 800 euros overall, with fluctuations tied to the condition of the parchment, the quality of the engravings, and the freshness of the interiors.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Work in 6 volumes. Contemporary parchment bindings, with cords and gold-decorated leather applied to the spines; present defects, wear, and gaps. Calcographic frontispiece with the portrait of the author; calcographic vignettes at the title pages. Exemplars with many foxings and browning. As with all ancient books, with a long history, some imperfections may be present that are not always noted in the description. Pp.: (2); 4nn; 8; 336; (2). (2); 4nn; 352; (4). (2); 4nn; 326; (2). (2); 4nn; 86; (2); 40; 64; 80; (2). (2); 4nn; 362; 16nn; (2). (2); 20nn; 272; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Opere. Naples, 1733. Giovanni della Casa.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Giovanni della Casa is universally known for the Galateo, a foundational text of modern reflection on social behavior and the language of civil life. His Opere collects poetic compositions, moral prose, and linguistic reflection texts that consolidated his role as arbiter of taste and literary norm. The Neapolitan edition of 1733 testifies to the author’s long fortune in the eighteenth century, when his thought is reread as a model of balance between classicism, morality, and cultural authority, in a context of strong codification of knowledge.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Giovanni della Casa was born in 1503 and died in 1556. He was a poet, prose writer, and diplomat, tied to the semi-educated circles of Renaissance Rome. Archbishop of Benevento and apostolic nuncio in Venice, he united political and religious experience with refined literary reflection. His Galateo remains one of the most influential texts in European culture on the topic of behavior and social decorum.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The Neapolitan edition of 1733 fits into the tradition of grand eighteenth-century collections dedicated to canonical Renaissance authors. Printed in in-4° format, with a precious engraved apparatus, it was intended for aristocratic, ecclesiastical, and academic libraries, contributing to the lasting diffusion of della Casa’s work in the Mezzogiorno and beyond.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
ICCU/OPAC SBN, record for Opere di Giovanni della Casa, Napoli 1733
WorldCat, eighteenth-century editions of the Works
G. Getto, Studi su Giovanni della Casa
Enciclopedia Treccani, entry Giovanni della Casa