Paolo Giovio, illustrated by Tobias Stimmer - Elogia Virorum Bellica Virtute Iillustrium; 1575 FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION ON EUROPEAN HISTORY - 1575

1575 FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION ON HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, MIDDLE AGES, BIOGRAPHIES, ROMAN EMPIRE, EUROPEAN HISTORY, HANNIBAL, ROMULUS, ATTILA, ALEXANDER THE GREAT, CHARLEMAGNE, POLITICS, WARS, MIDDLE EAST by Paolo Giovio (1483–1552), an Italian physician, historian and biographer. Superb volume and richly illustrated with 128 portraits of illustrious men from ancient times such as Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Romulus, Attila, one of the earliest portraits of Christopher Columbus, Tamerlane, up to leading figures of the Middle Ages such as Charlemagne, Hernán Cortés, Charles V King of Spain, Francis I King of France, Maximilian I, Ferdinand II of Aragon, Louis XII, Henry VIII King of England, Matthias Corvinus King of Hungary, Borgia Family, Sforza Dukes of Milan, Medici Dukes of Tuscany, Several Popes, Władysław III King of Poland and Hungary, Ștefan Mailat military leader of Transylvania-Romania , Sigismund I King of Poland, Skanderbeg (George Castriot) military leader of Albania, Mehmed II the Conqueror, Suleiman the Magnificent, Saladin and many others. This is the first illustrated edition; previous editions, including the first edition of 1551, were not illustrated. For this work, the publishers Pietro Perna and Heinrich Petri of Basel sent the illustrator Tobias Stimmer (1539–1584) to Como to copy the 484 paintings of famous figures housed in the villa of Paolo Giovio.The collection did not long survive Giovio’s death, but Cosimo I de’ Medici had copies made, which are now kept at the Uffizi in Florence; a set of copies was also made for Ferdinand II, Archduke of the Tyrol (now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) and for Cardinal Federico Borromeo (in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan). Printed by the Pern and Petri press in Basel, it is a magnificent volume, distinguished by superb typography, fine illustrations and unparalleled textual precision. Dedicated to Francesco de' Medici. Original stiff vellum binding, in excellent condition as shown in the photographs.

1575 FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION. The 1551 first edition—which is not illustrated and has a non-original binding—is for sale here for $2,500.00 here: https://biblio.co.uk/details.php?dcx=15604499, whereas the first illustrated edition, featuring 128 portraits and its original period binding, is offered to you at a fraction of that price. In this book Paolo Giovio describes his famous collection of portraits of illustrious men and women, literary figures, rulers, statesmen and other dignitaries, many of which were done from life and kept in his villa in Como, and considered the richest of its time. As a finishing touch, Giovio composed short, highly critical biographical essays to accompany the portraits, the inclusion of these biographies was fairly innovative. For each historical figure, Giovio's text focuses on four main areas: A)Physiognomic Analysis, Relationship Between The Body And The Soul. B)Military and Strategic Exploits. C)Highly Critical Moral Judgments. D)Vivid Anecdotes: Rather than writing dry, chronological histories, Giovio summarizes their lives through short, memorable stories. He focuses on specific behaviors, witty remarks, or dramatic moments of death that capture the essence of the person's legacy. By merging objective historical reporting with character analysis and visual evidence, Giovio's text created a multi-dimensional psychological profile for each commander.

This 1575 Basel edition published by Pietro Perna and Heinrich Petri is highly prized because it was the first to visually reproduce Giovio's famous portrait collection in print. The detailed illustrations are by Tobias Stimmer, a Swiss painter and illustrator. The engravings by Stimmer featured in this book are renowned for their crisp, expressive lines, which successfully capture the variety of facial features and armor of historical figures ranging from South-North-East European kings to Middle Eastern sultans. Each portrait is embellished with an elaborate, architecturally-styled woodcut frame. Stimmer devised a variety of interlaced frames, enriched with caryatids, garlands, monstrous figures, grotesque masks, and weaponry, thereby lending the biographies an imposing sense of monumentality. Tobias Stimmer’s most famous work consists of the paintings on the astronomical clock in Strasbourg. He produced a large number of drawings depicting biblical scenes, portraits, and allegories for the printer Sigmund Feyerabend in Frankfurt am Main, and Bernhart Jobin in Strasbourg. Stimmer followed Hans Holbein the Younger, but developed his own mannerism. Among his wall paintings remain the "House zum Ritter" in Schaffhausen.

TITLE: Elogia virorum bellica virtute illustrium: septem libris iam olim ab authore comprehensa, et nunc ex eiusdem Musaeo ad vium expressis imaginibus exornata (In Praise of illustrious men who distinguished themselves by their military virtue—originally composed by the author in seven books, and now embellished with vivid images from the same museum).
AUTHORS: Paolo Giovio (1483-1552), and illustrated by Tobias Stimmer (1539-1584)
PUBLISHER: Petri Pernae Typhographi also known as Pietro Perna and Heinrich Petri Press
DATE: MDLXXV (1575), printed in Basel, text in Latin

DESCRIPTION: in folio or 2° size height 352 x width 242 mm or 13.9 by 9.5 inches. [8] preliminary unnumbered sheets, 391 pages, [15] unnumbered sheets for index, 128 woodcut portraits by Tobias Stimmer, surrounded by Baroque-style frames, ten of which are empty, COMPLETE EDITION. Original rigid vellum binding with 3 raised bands; there are some minor flaws and small, negligible stains on the spine and covers, as shown in the photos. The binding is very solid—free of any cracks, breaks, losses, or structural defects—and remains entirely intact and in perfect working condition. A fine full-page illustrated title featuring military figures, cherubs, muses, and warriors between two columns, with a globe at the bottom to signify the vast range of characters included in the work. Dozens of woodcut initial letters, several head and tail pieces. One leaf remargined, text and illustrations are clean, rare stains, defects or faint dampstains. A fine edition, renowned for the quality of both its paper and its printing, as shown in the photos.

:::::::::::::::::SOME OF THE CHARACTERS FEATURED IN THIS BOOK:::::::::::::::::

--------------CLASSICAL AND LATE ANTIQUE PERIODS
Alexander the Great: The Macedonian king and conqueror of the Persian Empire, representing the ultimate archetype of military ambition and conquest.
Romulus: The legendary founder and first King of Rome. Giovio places him at the very foundation of Western military tradition.
Hannibal: The Carthaginian general who crossed the Alps. Giovio included him to explore the duality of military genius paired with the ultimate failure to conquer Rome.
Scipio Africanus: The Roman general who defeated Hannibal at the Battle of Zama, presented as the ultimate defender of the Republic.
Attila the Hun: The feared ruler of the Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids from 434 to 453. Depicted here in a demonic fashion, with horns and canine ears, to reflect his reputation as the "scourge of God."
Pyrrhus of Epirus: The Greek king and brilliant tactician who famously defeated the Romans but at such a high cost that he gave history the term "Pyrrhic victory."
Mithridates VI the Great: The King of Pontus and one of the Roman Republic's most formidable and successful foreign enemies.
Artaxerxes: The Achaemenid King of Kings of Persia, representing the massive power of the ancient Eastern empires.
Totila & Teia: The last kings of the Ostrogoths in Italy, who fought fiercely against the Byzantine Empire during the Gothic War.

--------------EUROPEAN MONARCHS AND EMPERORS
Charles V: Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain; the most powerful European ruler of the 16th century.
Francis I: King of France and Charles V's lifelong, bitter rival during the Italian Wars.
Maximilian I: Holy Roman Emperor who vastly expanded the Habsburg dynasty's territorial reach through war and marriage.
Sigismund I the Old (Sigismundus I) – Poland: The King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.
Ferdinand II of Aragon (the Catholic): King of Aragon who completed the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula.
Louis XII: King of France, remembered for his aggressive military campaigns in northern Italy.
Matthias Corvinus: King of Hungary, famous for his mercenary "Black Army" and fierce campaigns against the Ottomans.
István Majláth (Stephanus Maylatus) – Transylvania: A powerful and ambitious Voivode of Transylvania.
Charles the Bold: The last Valois Duke of Burgundy, known for his relentless and ultimately fatal military ambition.
Skanderbeg (George Castriot) – Albania: The legendary national hero who led a decades-long, highly successful guerrilla rebellion against the Ottoman Empire.
Alfonso V of Aragon (the Magnanimous): King of Aragon and Naples, celebrated as a conqueror and a major patron of the Renaissance.
John Hunyadi (Ioannes Huniades) – Transylvania / Hungary: The Voivode of Transylvania and Regent-Governor of Hungary.
Władysław III (Vladislaus of Varna) – Poland / Hungary: The young King of Poland and Hungary who commanded the ill-fated Crusade of Varna.

--------------ITALIAN DYNASTS AND COMMANDER
Cesare Borgia: The ruthless Duke of Valentinois, mercenary commander, and primary inspiration for Machiavelli’s The Prince.
Francesco Sforza: A brilliant mercenary captain who conquered Milan and founded the powerful Sforza dynasty.
Ludovico Sforza ("Il Moro"): Duke of Milan who notoriously invited the French into Italy, sparking decades of war.
Giovanni dalle Bande Nere (Giovanni de' Medici): A fiercely loyal mercenary captain, often celebrated as the last great Italian commander.
Federico da Montefeltro: Duke of Urbino, a highly successful tactician who used his mercenary wealth to fund a legendary Renaissance court.
Muzio Attendolo Sforza: The peasant-born patriarch of the Sforza family and one of Italy's earliest, most famous commanders.
Bartolomeo Colleoni: The formidable Captain-General of the Republic of Venice.
Castruccio Castracani: The ferocious 14th-century warlord and Duke of Lucca.
Erasmo of Narni called Gattamelata: A famed Venetian condottiero, immortalized in his era by Donatello’s equestrian bronze statue.
Francesco Bussone da Carmagnola: A highly successful mercenary commander who was ultimately tried and executed for treason by his Venetian employers.

--------------EASTERN CONQUERORS, SULTANS, AND RIVALS
Mehmed II (the Conqueror): The Ottoman Sultan who captured Constantinople in 1453 and destroyed the Byzantine Empire.
Suleiman the Magnificent: The longest-reigning Ottoman Sultan, who led the empire to its absolute military and political apex.
Saladin: The legendary 12th-century Sultan of Egypt and Syria who decisively defeated the Crusaders and captured Jerusalem.
Tamerlane (Timur): The feared Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the massive Timurid Empire spanning across Asia.
Skanderbeg (George Castriot): The legendary Albanian national hero who led a decades-long, highly successful guerrilla rebellion against the Ottoman Empire.
Hayreddin Barbarossa: The feared Ottoman corsair and Grand Admiral who established Ottoman naval dominance in the Mediterranean.
Shah Ismail I: The charismatic military leader and founder of the Safavid dynasty of Iran.
Muley Hassan (Abu Abdallah Muhammad V): The Hafsid Sultan of Tunis who famously allied with Charles V to retake his throne from Ottoman corsairs.

LITERATURE & REFERENCES: World Cat OCLC n°768309817 & 751200075; USTC n°683306; ADAMS G-644; VD16 G2066; Perini, La vita e i tempi di Pietro Perna (2002), catalogue no. 250; Verzeichnis der Drucke des 16. Jahrhunderts Reference: G 2066; Antwerpen, Belgium, Museum Plantin-Moretus Shelfmark: B 3389:2 (3/3); Paris, France, Bibliothèque Mazarine Shelfmark: Ms 3603-2; Toronto, Canada, Library of the Center for Reformation and Renaissance Studies Shelfmark: CT93 .G56 1575; Salamanca, Spain, Biblioteca Universitaria Shelfmark: BG/28979(1); Cambridge, United Kingdom, University Library Shelfmark: O.7.16; Durham, United States, Duke University Library Shelfmark: E 20fG514E 20c.1.

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