Senofonte - Opere - 1588

WAR, POLITICS AND HORSEMANSHIP IN THE ITALIAN EDITION OF 1588
An important sixteenth-century Venetian edition of Xenophon’s works, translated from Greek by Marc’Antonio Gandini and published in 1588 by Pietro Dusinelli. A vast compendium of history, military strategy, governance, moral philosophy, economy, horsemanship, and hunting, intended—as the frontispiece states—for both war captains and men engaged in civil life. The work includes some of the author’s most famous texts, from the Cyropaedia to the Memorabilia of Socrates, up to the treatises on the art of riding and on hunting. Noteworthy is the large, figuratively engraved frontispiece, conceived as a monumental Renaissance architectural structure. A significant example of Xenophon’s fortune in late Renaissance Italy.

ABSTRACT
Italian collection of Xenophon’s works in the Gandini translation, accompanied by explanatory notes and dedicated to the Venetian doge Pasquale Cicogna. The volume includes Xenophon’s Life, the Cyropaedia or The Education of Cyrus, the historical and Socratic texts, the writings on domestic and public government, the treatise on horsemanship, and the one on hunting. The encyclopedic character of the collection makes evident the extraordinary Renaissance fortune of the Athenian historian, read simultaneously as historian, political philosopher, military theorist, and teacher of civil conduct. The printing is enriched by illustrated drop caps, woodcut ornaments, and an elaborate architectural frontispiece.

WHY TO BUY
A considerably interesting work for the combination of Greek classic, sixteenth-century Italian translation, military history, political philosophy, and the art of horsemanship. Cyropaedia played a fundamental role in Renaissance political culture as a model of prince education and command; the Memorabilia are among the main sources on Socrates; the equestrian writings constitute one of the foundational texts of Western equestrian literature. The Venetian edition of 1588 also presents a magnificent illustrated frontispiece and preserves in a single volume an exceptionally broad corpus of Xenophon’s works.

MARKET VALUE
For a complete copy of the Venetian edition of 1588, with the illustrated frontispiece present and in a pleasant old binding, an indicative market value could be around €700-1,200. The sixteenth-century date, Xenophon’s importance, the illustrated frontispiece, and the diversity of the included texts positively influence the price.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Subsequent binding, presumably eighteenth-century, in half leather with marbled boards, spine decorated with gold-tooled and blind motifs, title “Le opere di Xenophon” and indication “Venetia MDLXXXVIII” impressed in gold. Large engraved frontispiece with a complex allegorical architectural frame, military and civil emblems, and dedication to doge Pasquale Cicogna. With drop caps, ornamental borders, and finials. Guard cards decorated. A copy showing normal signs of use, some foxing and physiological browning and occasional stains; the frontispiece shows slight dirt traces and marginal wear. In old books with a long history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing includes AI Visualizations. Please refer to the original photographs to verify the actual condition. Images are part of the description. Pp.: (2); 48nn; 756; 48nn; (4).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Le opere di Xenophon.
Venice, at Pietro Dusinelli, 1588.
Xenophon of Athens.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Xenophon’s fortune in Renaissance Europe was enormous. His output united, almost uniquely, history, ethics, political philosophy, military technique, household administration, and horsemanship. In particular, the Cyropaedia had a decisive influence on political culture of the Renaissance as a model for educating the prince, governance, and the art of command. The Socratic writings contributed decisively to shaping the image of Socrates, while the equestrian treatises offered one of the oldest systematic formulations on horse training and management. The Venetian publication thus testifies to the full integration of classical Greek culture into the political and intellectual framework of sixteenth-century Italy.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Xenophon of Athens was born around 430 B.C. and probably died around 354 B.C. He was a historian, soldier, philosopher, and pupil of Socrates. He participated in the famous expedition of the Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries into Persia, an experience recounted in the Anabasis. His body of work includes historical, biographical, philosophical, political, economic, and technical writings. In the Cyropaedia he developed an ideal model of sovereign through the figure of Cyrus the Great; in the Memorabilia he defended the memory of Socrates; in the horsemanship and hunting writings he transmitted technical knowledge that would continue to influence European culture for centuries.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The edition was printed in Venice in 1588 by Pietro Dusinelli, in a publishing environment where great classical authors continued to find a wide audience. Marc’Antonio Gandini’s translation aimed to render a very broad corpus of Xenophon’s texts into the vernacular, facilitating reading even outside the strictly humanist milieu. The monumental frontispiece, the dedication to doge Pasquale Cicogna, and the emphasis on the usefulness of the works for “captains of war” and for life “moral and civil” clearly show the audience for which the edition was intended: nobles, men of government, military leaders, and educated readers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Indexes of sixteenth-century Italian editions of Xenophon; sixteenth-century Venetian bibliographies; catalogs of Pietro Dusinelli’s output; indexes of Renaissance translations of the Greek classics; studies on Xenophon’s Cyropaedia, the Socratic writings, and Xenophon’s equestrian treatises in modern Europe.