Cicero, Partitiones oratoriæ, Cremona, 1588, Spanish armorial binding for Nuñez de Guzmán

CICERO, MARCUS TULLIUS. Partitiones oratoriae. Cremona: Giovanni Battista Pellizzaria and Cristoforo Draconi, 1588

THE DEDICATION COPY for Vespasiano Gonzaga Colonna. Sir William Godolphin purchased the whole of the library of Nuñez de Guzmán; for another book belonging to Sir William Godolphin and in a binding for Nuñez de Guzmán, see lot 1.

4to (207 x 150mm). Roman and italic types, 38 lines plus headline. Collation: *⁴ A–Z⁸ Aa–Kk⁸ L–S⁴: 300 leaves. Woodcut initials, insignia of Vespasiano Gonzaga Colonna, duke of Sabbioneta, painted on title (see provenance).

Binding: Spanish armorial binding for Nuñez de Guzmán (216 x 165 mm), shortly after 1645, red morocco, gilt frame composed of tendrils with leaves and flowers within gilt fillets, gilt leafy spray at corners, upper cover with large arms block of Guzmán impaled with those of his second wife, Anna Carafa, Duchess of Sabbioneta, surrounded by an acrologic inscription, lower cover with his emblematic impresa of a plant growing between reeds and a starry sky with motto "REVOLVTA FOECVNDANT" above within a shield with the same acrologic inscription, spine with 4 bands, upper compartment with 3-line title, others with large gilt ornament, edges gilt, painted and gauffered, blue morocco box probably by Gruel.

Provenance: Vespasiano Gonzaga Colonna, duca di Sabbioneta (1531-1591), the dedicatee, his insignia painted on the title-page — Anna Carafa della Stadera, duchessa di Sabbioneta (d. 1644) — Ramiro Felipe Núñez de Guzmán, Duque de Medina de las Torres (ca 1600-1668), arms on binding (Guzmán arms, impaled with those of his second wife, Anna Carafa) — Sir William Godolphin (1635-1696, English ambassador to Madrid) — Arthur Lauria, Paris — Maurice Burrus (1882-1959), his acquisition label dated 1937 — Alde & Isabelle de Conihout with Pascal Ract Madoux, Manuscrits et livres de la collects ion Maurice Burrus, Paris, 17 October 2017, lot 20. Acquisition: Purchased at the preceding sale. References: Edit 16 12491; USTC 822556