Jacobus Vectianus - Carmina Insignium - 1639

Jacopo Vezzani (Iacobus Vectianus)
Songs of certain illustrious natal days, and the learning of the poets of the reigning era
Year of publication: 1639 (MDCLXXXIX) [note: MD. DC. XXXIX translates to 1639]
Publisher / Printer: Giuseppe Pavoni (Apud Iosephum Pavonem, Genova)
Language: Latin

Format: In-12° (Duodecimo)
Rugged antique hardcover.
Pages [16]+191+[1]
Rare and interesting sixteenth-century edition of this famous anthology collected by the Modenese scholar Jacopo Vezzani (Iacobus Vectianus).
The work gathers the Latin poems of the most distinguished and learned poets from the Reggio Emilia region (Poetarum Regiensium), expressly selected and dedicated “in gratia studiosa iuventutis collecta” (collected for the sake of the studious youth).
The volume was printed in Genoa in 1639 by the prestigious printing shop of Giuseppe Pavoni.
The beautiful frontispiece is adorned at the center by a wood-engraved printer’s mark (depicting a rooster with the motto “Canto”) enclosed within a complex and elegant ornamental border engraved in wood.
A detail of great historical and collectible charm is represented by the period handwritten annotations (in iron gall ink) visible on the frontispiece, among which stands out the indication of Genoa as the city of origin (Genuae) and signatures of old owners at the bottom, tangible evidence of the book’s history and the transfers of ownership over the centuries.

Binding solidly attached to the paper. Shows normal signs of aging and light period abrasions to the boards and edges, consistent with the age of the volume.

Frontispiece: Shows normal foxing and browning due to the period. The outer margin slightly trimmed but the text, the wood-engraved border, and the handwritten annotations are perfectly readable and intact.
Interior: Pages generally fresh with foxing and physiological browning typical of seventeenth-century paper.