Sansovino - Origine de Cavalieri - 1566

FIRST EDITION - KNIGHTS, ORDERS, AND SYMBOLS OF POWER IN RENAISSANCE EUROPE
A rare Venetian treatise from 1566 devoted to the origin and rules of European chivalry. Francesco Sansovino reconstructs orders, hierarchies, insignia, and statutes of the most prestigious knightly fraternities of his time. From the Garter to the Golden Fleece, from the Order of Savoy to that of Saint Michael, the volume offers an extraordinary snapshot of the aristocratic culture of the 16th century. The work is enhanced by four large full-page woodcut engravings depicting heraldic coats of arms and knightly collars. First edition, printed in Venice in 1566, of particular historical, iconographic, and collecting interest.

ABSTRACT
First edition of Origine de Cavalieri by Francesco Sansovino, published in Venice in 1566 by the brothers Camillo and Rutilio Borgomineri. The treatise addresses the origin, nature, and norms of knighthood, distinguishing in particular between collar-knighthood, cross-knighthood, and spur-knighthood. Considerable space is given to the statutes and characteristics of the major European knightly orders, including the Order of the Garter, the Savoyard orders, the Golden Fleece, and the Order of Saint Michael. The volume also includes descriptions of the islands of Malta and Elba, linking the knightly discourse to the political and military geography of the sixteenth-century Mediterranean. The figurative apparatus includes a typographic woodcut device on the title page, ornate initials, and four full-page wood engravings with coats of arms, insignia, and collars of the knightly orders.

WHY TO BUY
First edition of a significant work in Francesco Sansovino’s output and in Renaissance treatise literature dedicated to knighthood. The presence of the four full-page wood engravings constitutes one of the most attractive elements of the copy, especially for collectors interested in knighthood orders, heraldry, genealogy, military history, Venetian history, and iconography of power. The small octavo format also makes the volume particularly elegant and typical of late sixteenth-century Venetian scholarly production. The full parchment binding and the scholarly completeness of the copy make it of good antiquarian interest despite some faults and ancient restorations.

MARKET VALUE
The 1566 Venetian first edition holds greater interest than later reprints, especially when complete with the woodcut illustrations. For a complete and good-condition copy, with an old binding and an intact figurative apparatus, a reasonable antique value range can be roughly between €900 and €1,500.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Binding in full rigid parchment, with gilt title on the back, and sprinkled edges. Woodcut typographic device on the title page, ornate woodcut initials, and four full-page wood engravings depicting heraldic shields and knightly collars. On the title page there are two ancient restoration interventions: apparently, to remove a previous mark or inscription, some portions of the paper were cut away and integrated with fragments of old paper which still show faint traces of the prior intervention. Upper margin slightly short. Some ancient underlinings and handwritten notes present. A fascicle (T) slightly loosened. In old books with a long history there may be some imperfections, not always noted in the description. This listing contains AI Visuals. Please refer to the original photographs to verify the actual condition of the item. The images are an integral part of the description. Pp. (2); 16nn; 304.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Origine de Cavalieri.
In Venetia, appresso Camillo, & Rutilio Borgomineri fratelli, al Segno di San Giorgio, 1566.
Francesco Sansovino.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The work belongs to the vast sixteenth-century historical- scholarly production dedicated to defining the social, political, and military hierarchies of European aristocracy. In the 16th century, knightly orders represented not only military or religious institutions but genuine instruments of dynastic, diplomatic, and political representation. The collar, the cross, the spur, and other insignia assumed precise symbolic meanings, indicating membership, privilege, fidelity, and rank. Sansovino gathers in this volume information relating to some of the most prestigious European orders, describing their origins, ceremonies, and statutes. Of particular note are the references to the English Garter, the Burgundian-Habsburg Golden Fleece, the Savoyard orders, and the French Order of Saint Michael. The presence of Malta also places the text within the broader Mediterranean Power dynamics between Christian powers and the Ottoman Empire, especially significant in the years immediately following the Great Siege of Malta in 1565.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Francesco Sansovino, born in Rome in 1521 and died in Venice in 1586, was a scholar, historian, translator, and editor, son of the renowned architect and sculptor Jacopo Sansovino. After legal studies he settled permanently in Venice, where he carried out intense editorial and literary activity. An extremely prolific author, he dealt with history, politics, literature, genealogy, institutions, and urban description. His position within the lively Venetian publishing world allowed him to contribute significantly to the diffusion of historical and political knowledge to a broader audience beyond the traditional humanist circles. Among his best-known works are treatises on governance, the history of illustrious families, and especially the city of Venice, of which he became one of the most important sixteenth-century describers.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The 1566 Venetian edition represents the first appearance of the work and belongs to the most intense phase of Sansovino’s editorial activity. The volume was produced by the brothers Camillo and Rutilio Borgomineri, active in Venice at the Sign of Saint George. Like many sixteenth-century treatises on historical, genealogical, and knightly topics, the work was intended for a relatively select audience of literati, aristocrats, courtiers, and scholars interested in European noble institutions. The use of the octavo format made consultation and circulation of the text easier. Surviving complete copies with the illustrations are particularly interesting today because the plates with coats of arms and collars constitute direct iconographic testimony of sixteenth-century representations of knightly orders.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
First Venetian edition of Francesco Sansovino’s work dedicated to the origin and statutes of European knightly orders. The work belongs to the sixteenth-century bibliography relating to knighthood, heraldry, dynastic orders, and Italian Renaissance political-historical treatises. Of particular bibliographic interest are the original 1566 edition, the Borgomineri typographic device, the woodcut initials, and especially the four large illustrations dedicated to heraldic arms and knightly collars.