Strada, Epitome thesauri antiquitatum, Zurich, 1557, brown morocco by Capé with gilt medallion

Strada, Jacopo. Epitome thesauri antiquitatum, hoc est, impp. Rom. orientalium et occidentalium iconum, ex antiquis numismatibus quàm fidelissime deliniatarum. Ex musaeo Jacobi de Strada Mantuani antiquarii. Zurich: Andreas Gessner, (1 March) 1557

The first of Gessner's editions of Strada's numismatical work. Strada had published the original Lyon editions, but it is likely that the Zurich editions were pirated rather than issued with Strada's consent, as the woodblocks were recut.

For an early sixteenth-century binding with a gilt medallion of Julius Caesar, see Bibliotheca Brookeriana II, 12 October 2023, lot 286.

8vo (179 x 109 mm). Roman type, 46 lines plus headline. collation: a-d⁸ e⁴ A-X⁸: 204 leaves. Woodcut device on title-page, woodcut initials, white-on-black woodcut medallion portraits. (Small tear in the margin of I4, occasional light soiling.)

binding: Crushed tan morocco by Capé (183 x 123 mm), covers with central gilt medallion stamp of Julius Caesar, within a frame of gilt and blind fillets with corner fleurons, spine gilt in compartments, gilt edges. In modern drop-backed box.

acquisition: Purchased in 2020 from Librairie Paul Jammes, Paris. references: Dekesel S72; VD16 S 9364