G. Schönborner - Politicorum - 1642

Georgius Schönborner (Georg Schönborner, 1579-1637). Seven Books of Politics.
Editio ad ipsius authoris emendatum exemplar nunc primum vulgata.
Amsterdam: At Ludovicum Elzevirium, 1642.

Format: piccolo 12° (cm 14 x 7,8).
Pages: [74], 542, [32] pp. of index + 1 folded plate.
Contemporary binding, with signs of wear.

Encyclopedic work of political science in seven books, among the most complete and systematic of the early Seicento (early seventeenth century).
Schönborner (a Silesian jurist, chancellor and imperial adviser) treats the constitution of the state, administration, magistracies, the education of citizens, military forces, finances, alliances, war and peace, drawing on classical sources (Aristotle, Cicero, Livy, etc.), patristic and modern (Bodin, etc.).
Includes a description of the status and orders of the Holy Roman Empire.
The engraved title page and the genealogical/kinship table (visible in the photos) enrich the edition.
It is a reference text for the study of politics as the art of governing in the humanistic-Baroque period.

This is the first Elzevir edition (the most sought-after and praised compared to the 1650 and 1660 reissues, which have fewer preliminary pages).
The small-format Elzevir editions are among the most appreciated by collectors for their typography, elegant type, and portability.

Rara opera on the antiquarian market, especially complete with the folded plate and in the princeps Elzevir 1642 edition.

Similar copies occasionally appear at international auctions with significant valuations.

Widespread signs of wear throughout the work, as described, but overall intact and legible. Typical for a 17th-century volume much used.

Representative specimen of Elzevirian production and of the political literature of the German-imperial Seicento. Ideal for Res Publica collections, European public law, or Elzevir prints.