*GIOVIO (Paolo).

Elogia virorum bellica virtute illustrium. Basel, Pietro Perna [for Heinrich Petri], 1575. In-folio, of [8]-391-[14]-3 bl. pp. First edition illustrated with a beautiful allegorical frame on the title, a portrait of the author, a full-page figure (tomb) and 128 portraits of men of war (from Romulus to Como de' Medici) engraved halfway through the pages in rich ornate frames (of which a dozen without portraits). Bound after the same : Elogia virorum literis illustrium, quotquot vel nostra vel avorum memoria vixere. Basel, Pietro Perna, 1577. In-folio, of [12]-232-[3]-3 bl. pp. First edition illustrated with a beautiful allegorical frame on the title, a portrait of the author, and 62 portraits of authors (Petrarch, Dante, Aretinus, Agricola, Savonarola, Macchiavel, Thomas More, Budé...) engraved halfway through the pages in richly decorated frames (except for 3). Ivory vellum, title-piece (18th c.). Corners and small flaps worn. Scattered foxing. Black ink stain with hole in the margin of p. 383. The publisher Pietro Perna had sent the artist Tobias Stimmer to Paolo Giovio, bishop of Nocera and famous historiographer of the Italian wars, to copy the paintings of illustrious men kept in his palace built on the heights of Lake Como. Some of the portraits, such as those of Christopher Columbus, Cortez, Barbarossa or Attila, will remain famous and will make this edition an essential iconographic source for a long time. H: 35 x W: 23 cm - Weight: 1,850kg