DENIS LE CHARTREUX.

Eruditissima simul et utilissima super omnes S. Dionysii Areopagitae libros commentaria. Cologne, Pierre Quentel, 1536. In-folio, cold-stamped sow skin on ais, boards decorated with a large panel of fillets and scrolls with biblical subjects, spine decorated with fleurons, metal clasps, painted lateral edge (Period binding). Commentary by Denis the Carthusian, a 15th century Belgian theologian and exegete, on the works of Saint Denis the Areopagite. This edition was printed in Roman type by Pierre Quentel, a printer and bookseller in Cologne who published the works of Denis the Carthusian between 1531 and 1555. It is decorated on the title with a large historiated woodcut border signed with the monogram of Anton Woensam of Worms (cf. Nagler, vol. V, no. 1519). A PRECIOUS COPY FROM THE FAMOUS PILLONE LIBRARY, IN A SIXTEENTH-CENTURY GERMAN BINDING, DECORATED ON THE LATERAL EDGE WITH AN IMPORTANT COMPOSITION BY CESARE VECELLIO REPRESENTING SAINT DENIS THE AREOPAGITE, WEARING A MITRE, WRITING ON A RED DESK. This remarkable collection was built up between 1490 and the end of the 16th century by a dynasty of Venetian patricians: Antonio Pillone, his son Odorico and his grandson Giorgio. The one hundred and seventy or so volumes that make up the collection were all decorated in the 16th century by the painter Cesare Vecellio, a relative of Titian, who painted a number of colourful scenes in the spirit of Titian compositions directly on the edges of the books (Pierre Berès). In the 19th century, the collection was acquired en bloc by Sir Thomas Brooke, an English nobleman who incorporated it into his library. It was bought by Pierre Berès in 1957 and finally dispersed. The books of the Pillone library, like those of Grolier, Mahieu or Wotton, are among the most coveted by bibliophiles and remain very rare on the market. From the Thomas Brooke library, with his bookplate (II, 1891, p. 671, n°52). The copy was listed in the catalogue Un groupe de livres Pillone of the Pierre Berès bookshop, under n°13. Staining affecting the lower margin and the bottom of the volume, and damaging the binding (missing the lower cover and part of the skin at the foot of the boards). Four leaves transposed.