Crasso - Patritiorum Venetorum - 1612

I PATRIZI VENEZIANI DI NICOLÒ CRASSO BETWEEN Rhetoric, Power, AND POLITICAL MEMORY
Civil elegy, rhetorical monument, and instrument of political legitimation: Nicolò Crasso’s Elogia Patritiorum Venetorum situates itself in the great Venetian humanist tradition as a celebratory work of the Serenissima’s ruling class. Printed in Venice in 1612, the work builds, through a series of Latin praises, a true gallery of moral and political portraits of the patricians, blending classical rhetoric, historical memory, and republican ideology. The pages documented here show the structured composition of the work: prefaces dedicated to eminent figures, ornate engraved initials, and solemn formatting, in a typographic balance that reflects the dignity of the content. The volume presents itself as a mirror of Venetian nobility, where civic virtues, military glory, and cultural prestige merge into a coherent and celebratory narrative of aristocratic power.
MARKET VALUE
Complete copies of this Venetian edition of 1612 generally command between 800 and 1,000 euros, with significant variations depending on the condition of the binding and the freshness of the paper.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Contemporary binding in parchment, worn with abrasions, stains, deformations, and restorations visible along the spine and corners; signs of wear especially at the hinges. Frontispiece engraved with a central typographic mark (interlaced anchors within an ornate frame). Leaves with some physiological browning. Presence of historiated engraved initials and decorative drop caps. In old books with a multi-century history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (2); 108; 2nn; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Elogia Patritiorum Venetorum.
Venetiis, apud Evangelistam Deuchinum, 1612.
Nicolò Crasso.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The work belongs to the tradition of humanist encomia, a literary genre aimed at celebrating eminent figures through a language strongly shaped by classical rhetoric. In the Venetian context of the early seventeenth century, this type of production serves a precise political function: to consolidate the identity and legitimacy of the patrician class through the narration of individual and collective virtues. The texts dedicated to figures such as Leonardo Donato or Carlo Zeno show how historical memory is selected and organized to serve as exemplary, transforming biography into a paradigm. The presence of dedications to senators and dignitaries also highlights the direct link between author and political elite, making the volume not only a literary work but also a tool of relationship and representation. Typographically, the edition reflects the quality level of Venetian printing of the era, with a measured but effective use of the ornamental apparatus.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Nicolò Crasso (Nicolaus Crassus Iunior), active from the late sixteenth to the early seventeenth century, was a humanist and author tied to the Venetian cultural milieu. His works are placed within the encomiastic and celebratory tradition, with particular attention to the history and institutions of the Serenissima. Through the Elogia, Crasso contributes to the construction of a codified aristocratic memory, where Latin rhetoric becomes a tool of political and cultural legitimation.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Printed in Venice in 1612 by Evangelista Deuchino, the work belongs to a mature phase of Venetian typography, now fully integrated into European book circuits. Editions of encomiastic works destined for the elite had relatively selective circulation, often tied to academic and institutional contexts. The quality of the printing and the presence of the typographic mark attest to the solidity of the Deuchino workshop, active in producing humanist and legal texts.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
EDIT16 (ICCU): CRASSI Nicolai, Elogia Patritiorum Venetorum, Venezia 1612 (number to be verified)
ICCU/OPAC SBN: record for edition Venetiis, Deuchinum, 1612 (verify specific identifier)
USTC: records for Crassus, Elogia Venetorum, 1612 (number to be verified)
WorldCat: Nicolai Crassi Iunioris Elogia Patritiorum Venetorum, Venice 1612 (multiple records)
Cicogna, Emmanuele Antonio, Delle iscrizioni veneziane, Venezia, vol. IV, pp. 112-115 (historical-patrician context)
Grendler, Paul F., The Universities of the Italian Renaissance, Baltimore 2002, pp. 310-315 (Venetian humanistic culture)
Quondam, Amedeo, La letteratura encomiastica nel Rinascimento, Roma, pp. 145-172