14 - FORESTI da BERGAMO (Jacopo Filippo, known as BERGOMENSIS). *De plurimis claris sceletisque mulieribus*. Ferrara, Laurentius de Rubeis of Valencia, April 29, 1497. Folio (302 x 200 mm), wine-colored morocco leather, two gilt fillets on the covers with a coat of arms in the center, ribbed spine adorned with the gilt monogram VM (Victor Masséna), interior lace, gilt edges (Lortic).

FORESTI da BERGAMO (Jacopo Filippo, known as BERGOMENSIS). *De plurimis claris sceletisque mulieribus*. Ferrara, Laurentius de Rubeis of Valencia, April 29, 1497. Folio (302 x 200 mm), wine-colored morocco leather, two gilt fillets on the covers with a coat of arms in the center, ribbed spine adorned with the gilt monogram VM (Victor Masséna), interior lace, gilt edges (Lortic). Collation: A4, a-e8, f6, g-p8, q6, r8, s6, t8, v6, x8, y-z6; 176 ff., incorrectly numbered CLXX. First edition. The most beautiful book published in Ferrara in the 15th century, along with the Epistolae of Saint Jerome, published six months later by the same Lorenzo Rossi. This gallery of famous women, compiled by the Augustinian hermit Jacopo Filippo Foresti (1434–1520)—who also authored the *Supplementum chronicarum*—is undoubtedly the richest and most beautiful among the many variations on this theme, which was initiated by Boccaccio’s *De claris mulieribus* and was highly popular during the Renaissance. With a broader and more varied scope than Boccaccio’s work—including, notably, portraits of contemporary women—the *De plurimis claris mulieribus* covers the lives of 185 women, from Eve to Damisella Trivulzia (1483–1527). The illustration, which appears here for the first time, consists of: - two large woodcuts presented within the same elegant Venetian-style architectural frame dated 1493, the first, on the frontispiece (A1v), showing the author presenting his book to Beatrice of Aragon, widow of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary; the second (a1v), divided into eight scenes, illustrating the life of the Virgin Mary. A third frame, of the same style but distinct, appears on the first text page (a2r). - 172 woodcuts of uniform size (approximately 65 x 72 mm) in the text (56 different woodcuts, 116 repetitions) depicting portraits of famous women from antiquity to the contemporary era. These line-drawn woodcuts, with their beautiful character and black-and-white landscapes in the background, are typical of the Ferrara and Tuscan art of the period and offer a striking contrast to the Venetian style of the borders. Particularly noteworthy are the last seven portraits (which are not repeated), dedicated to the author’s contemporaries, five of whom have been identified: Bianca Maria Sforza, Catherina, Countess of Forlì and Imola, Leonora of Aragon, wife of Ercole d’Este, Damisella Trivulzia, and the poetess Cassandra Fidelis. The particularly vivid and individualized rendering of their features suggests that these portraits were created from life, thus constituting “one of the earliest attempts in the graphic arts to create portraits from life” (Sander). A very beautiful title page, entirely woodcut. A large initial letter adorned with a Virgin and Child at the beginning of the text, numerous ornate initials on a black background, and the printer’s mark at the end of the text. A superb copy of Victor Masséna, Duke of Rivoli, Prince of Essling (1836–1910), bound by Lortic in morocco leather bearing his coat of arms and cipher. The grandson of the Imperial Marshal, the Prince of Essling was one of the most erudite bibliophiles of the nineteenth century, notably publishing, from 1907 to 1914, in six luxurious volumes, a comprehensive study on his favorite subject, Venetian illustrated books of the late 15th and early 16th centuries. His superb and exceptionally rich collection was dispersed in several auctions, notably in Zurich in 1939 and in Lucerne in 1942. Provenance: Prince of Essling, Zurich auction, 1939, no. 36; Sylvain Brunschwig, 1955, no. 176 (bookplate). Acquired by Émile Rossignol in 1955 at the Brunschwig auction. BMC, VI, 613; Pellechet, 2069; Polain, 1497; Sander, *Le livre à figures italien*, I, 915; Stillwell; J 181; CIBN, J-140; HC *2813; Goff, J-204; IGI, 5071; Schäfer/Arnim, 186; Otto Schäfer (I, *Italian Books*, 1994, no. 97: $31,000; Vershbow, 2013, 19th-century morocco: $40,000; Christie’s, June 23, 2011, Newhall sale, Trautz-Bauzonnet morocco, Rahir copy (298 x 196): $52,500.