FLAVIUS JOSEPHE.

Opera. Geneva], Jacob Stoer, 1595. In-16, red morocco, framed on the boards and the spine with a border of foliage, the fields occupied by a large oval medallion of foliage each containing a flower, coat of arms in the centre, fillet on the edges, gilt edges (Binding of the time). The first volume of two of this rare Geneva edition of the works of Flavius Josephus. It contains the XX books of the Judaic Antiquities. Title printed in red and black, decorated with the typographical mark of Jacob Stoer (cf. Heitz, n°147). A fine copy. CHARMING BINDING WITH THE ARMS OF PIETRO DUODO (1554-1611), Venetian ambassador to the court of Henry IV. This bibliophile had a portable library in which all the books were bound in the same way, only the colour of the morocco varied according to the subject matter: olive green was reserved for works of literature, lemon for medicine and botany, and red for history, philosophy, theology and law. These bindings were once attributed to the Eve workshop and it was long thought, because of the presence of a daisy among the characteristic floral decoration, that they were made for Queen Marguerite de Valois. Covers and hinges restored.