C. Giudici - La Bottega de’ Chiribizzi - 1685

First Edition

La Bottega de’ Chiribizzi by Doctor Cesare Giudici.

Dedicated to the Illustrious Sir Doctor Lawyer Matteo Abbiate Forieri. In Milan, by Ambrogio Ramellati, (1685).

Original Milanese edition of this rare and entertaining Baroque collection. Cesare Giudici (1634-1724), physician and man of letters, presents a “shop” of chiribizzi (caprices, whims, bizarre and satirical inventions): sonnets, odes, short stories, ridiculous operettas, zergo alphabets, advice, prognostications, and playful pieces on love, social and moral topics. Among the pieces: “Raising of the Workshop” (Erezione della Bottega), “Vulcano Avenged. Ridiculous Operetta,” “The Little Novel,” “The Alphabet in Zergo,” odes and sonnets of a light and witty tone, typical of the Seicento Lombard consumer and entertainment literature. The work is dedicated to Matteo Abbiate Forieri, Milanese lawyer and consultant.

A 12° specimen (about 15 × 10 cm). Collation: (16), 344, (1) pp. The portrait and cards A-A3 are missing (as noted). Contemporary limp parchment binding, with handwritten title on the spine (partially legible “Bottega de’ Chiribizzi”) and slight signs of wear.
Internals with the typical browning and usage stains of the period, text readable; present woodcut ornaments (baskets of flowers and fruit, cupids, heads, peacocks, etc.).

First edition, very rare on the market (one known Venetian reprint of 1721 by Domenico Lovisa). An authentic testimony to Milanese playful and satirical literature of the late Seicento, little present in libraries and private collections. Of notable interest to scholars of Baroque literature, satire, and Seicento Lombard culture.

Genuine specimen, albeit incomplete in the initial leaves and portrait, in a period binding.