Giovanni Battista Comazzi - La mente del savio - Prima edizione - 1695

Fascinating and uncommon first edition of this seventeenth-century philosophical-moral work written by Giovanni Battista Comazzi and printed in Vienna in 1695 by the heirs of Viviani. The volume is dedicated to Her Sacred Imperial Majesty Empress Eleonora (Eleonora Maddalena Teresa of Palatinate-Neuburg), Archduchess of Austria and Princess of Mantua and Monferrato.
The work develops in 19 chapters (defined in the 'Order of the Chapters') dedicated to the figure of the 'Sage' and his virtues, addressing profound themes such as the existence of God, religion, human freedom, good, evil, the laws and governance of the world, up to the last chapter on the meaning of living and dying.
This specific copy presents a bibliographic peculiarity: the text formally ends with the inscription "IL FINE" on page 128 (compared to the 170 pages recorded in other cited variants), configuring itself as a particular edition or variant of the period, complete in every part and free of internal mutilations.

* Author: Giovanni Battista Comazzi
* Title: The Mind of the Sage Dedicated to Her Sacred Imperial Majesty Empress Eleonora Queen of Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, &c. Archduchess of Austria...
* Place and year of printing: In Vienna, For the Heirs of Viviani, 1695 (First Edition)
* Pagination: Frontispiece, [12] unnumbered pages of preface and index ("Order of the Heads"), 128 numbered pages of text.
* Binding: Contemporary in full soft parchment of the period with ancient handwritten title on the back: "The Mind of the Sage Comaz."
* Size: 15 x 8 cm.

Conditions and State of Preservation

* Binding: structurally solid. Various signs of wear and stains and traces on the boards. An era-ownership handwritten signature on the front board ("Iolo Maria Francesco").
* Interiors: generally sound paper, crisp and well bound. The text is perfectly legible, but presents evident and widespread water stains (historic humidity marks) affecting a good part of the pages.