Sallustio Crispo - [Post Incunable] ... Belle Cose - 1518

FIRST ITALIAN TRANSLATION OF SALLUST, CONSIDERED THE FINEST AMONG CONTEMPORARIES
Post-Incunable published in Venice in 1518 by the famous printer Bernardino de Vitali, this rare edition represents the first Italian printed translation of the historical works of Gaius Sallustius Crispus, one of the most influential authors of ancient Rome. The volume makes accessible to common readers two masterpieces of classical historiography, De coniuratione Catilinae and De bello Iugurthino, works that throughout the Renaissance were considered authentic manuals of politics, morality, and governance. Executed by Agostino Ortica della Porta, a Genoese humanist engaged in spreading classical culture, the translation fits into the large humanistic project aimed at transferring the heritage of antiquity from Latin to modern languages. Among the two editions published simultaneously in 1518, Bernardino de Vitali’s is unanimously regarded by bibliographers as the more elegant and the rarer. In terms of cultural importance, typography quality, and commercial scarcity, the volume constitutes one of the most interesting testimonies of the Italian vulgar (vernacular) humanism of the early sixteenth century.

REASONS FOR COLLECTING
* First Italian printed translation of Sallust.
* Post-Incunable of 1518.
* Considered by bibliographers the more elegant of the two contemporary editions.
* Important testimony to the diffusion of Latin classics in the vernacular.
* Contains the famous monographs on the Catiline conspiracy and on the war with Jugurtha.

MARKET VALUE
The early Italian translations of Latin classics occupy a prominent position in the market for antiquarian books, as they testify to the moment when humanistic culture emerged from the realm of specialists to reach a broader audience. The present volume enjoys particular interest because it represents Sallust’s first Italian appearance and because the edition printed by Bernardino de Vitali is traditionally considered rarer and typographically superior to the contemporaneous edition by Giorgio Rusconi. Complete and well-preserved copies are nowadays relatively infrequent on the antiquarian market and can generally be valued at between €1,500 and €2,500, with higher prices for copies of especially high quality, significant provenance, or exceptional preservation.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Collation: (4), 156, (4) leaves. Elegant later binding in brown calf with double border of tripled fillets on the boards, angular fleurons, five-ribbed spine with rich decorations and title in gold, inner dentelles and gilded edges, signs of wear. Text set in roman type with numerous woodcut initials. Slight stains on the first leaves, some browning and sporadic foxing. Ancient ownership stamp. Overall a very pleasant copy, enhanced by a refined high-quality binding. In old books, with a plurisecular history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Salustio with some other beautiful things.
Gaius Sallustius Crispus.
Italian translation by Agostino Ortica della Porta.
Venice, Bernardin Vitali, 1518.
First Italian printed translation.
Collation: (4), 156, (4) leaves.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
In the Renaissance Sallust was regarded as one of the historians most useful for the moral and political formation of the ruling classes. His works offered concrete examples of ambition, corruption, civic virtue, institutional conflicts, and the decay of the State, themes that appeared particularly relevant in the fragmented Italy of the early sixteenth century. Ortica della Porta’s translation made these texts accessible to readers without a solid Latin education, contributing to the diffusion of the vernacular humanism. The Catiline conspiracy became a model for reflecting on the crises of the republic and the relation between liberty and power, while the war against Jugurtha provided a piercing analysis of political and military corruption. The work thus represents an important document of Renaissance reception of Roman culture.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Gaius Sallustius Crispus (86–35 BC) was one of the greatest historians of ancient Rome. After actively participating in political life during the late Republic’s civil wars and supporting Julius Caesar, he withdrew from public life to devote himself to historiography. His works are characterized by a concise, vigorous, and deeply moral style. The De coniuratione Catilinae and the De bello Iugurthino are regarded as among the absolute masterpieces of Latin historiography and deeply influenced European political thought from the Renaissance to the modern era.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE TRANSLATOR
Agostino Ortica della Porta was a Genoese humanist active at the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century. He belonged to the generation of scholars who dedicated themselves to translating classical Latin authors into the vernacular languages, promoting the diffusion of humanistic culture beyond the traditional university circles. His vernacular rendering of Sallust represents one of the most important Italian examples of disseminating classical historiography in the early sixteenth century.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The edition was published in Venice in 1518 by Bernardino de Vitali on the same day as a parallel impression prepared by Giorgio Rusconi. Since early bibliographies, Vitali’s version has been regarded as the more elegant and rarer of the two. Its typographic quality, the breadth of format, and the accuracy of the layout place it among the most successful humanistic Venetian editions of the period. Its diffusion was probably limited compared to the great religious or literary bestsellers of the time, a circumstance contributing today to its uncommon availability on the antiquarian market.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
EDIT16 CNCE 42135.
ICCU – OPAC SBN, Salustio con alcune altre belle cose, Venezia, Bernardino de Vitali, 1518.
Adams, Catalogue of Books Printed on the Continent of Europe, S-239.
BM STC Italian Books, p. 603.
USTC, Universal Short Title Catalogue, n. 857477.
Haym, Biblioteca Italiana, p. 22, n. 5: “Edizione bellissima di carattere tondo, e veramente rara”.
Brunet, Manuel du Libraire, V, col. 85.
Graesse, Trésor de Livres Rares et Précieux, VI, p. 251.
WorldCat, international census of the edition.
British Library Catalogue, copies catalogued of the Vitali edition.
Library of Congress, catalogs of Renaissance editions of Sallust.
Venezian publishing in the early sixteenth century and studies on the humanistic vernacular translation of Latin classics.