Lettere volgari di diversi eccellentissimi huomini, in diverse materie. Libro secondo

8vo. 132, (4) leaves. A-R⁸. With the printer's device on the title-page and at the end. 18^th century vellum over boards, spine with gilt morocco title label, marbled edges.

Adams, L-583; Basso, pp. 68-69; Braida, p. 306; Edit 16, CNCE 26953; Quondam, p. 279; J. Bonfadio, Le Lettere e una scrittura burlesca, A. Greco, ed., (Roma, 1978), p. 47; E. Pastorello, L'epistolario Manuziano. Inventario cronologico-analitico, 1483-1597, (Firenze, 1957), no. 220; L. Pertile, Apollonio Merenda, segretario del Bembo, e ventidue lettere di Trifone Gabriele, in: “Studi e problemi di critica testuale”, (1987), vol. 34, p. 25; A.A. Renouard, Annales de l'imprimerie des Alde, (Paris, 1834), p. 134, no. 17; S. Speroni, Lettere familiari, II Lettere a diversi, M.R. Loi & M. Pozzi, eds., (Alessandria, 1994), p. 246, no. VI.

FIRST EDITION, second issue of the ‘second book' of Paolo Manuzio's Lettere volgari, which appeared three years after the publication of the first.

The first issue of the second Book had been printed by Manuzio only a few month earlier. This new issue, in which at the end are added 7 new letters to Donato Rullo (a servant of cardinal Regnald Pole), contains for the first time the privileges of Pope Paul III and the Republic of Venice. Since the entire volume was completely reset, the text presents some corrections and minor differences compared to that of the first issue.

The selection of the letters must have been mainly done by Paolo Manuzio, even though his brother Antonio, in the dedicatory letter to Paolo Tron, presents himself as the only editor: “Quanta fatica io habbi durato a raccorle, sollo io; quanta diligentia io habbi usata a sceglierle, gli altri lo giudicheranno” (l. 2v).

The collection incorporates 101 letters, mainly dated between August 14, 1521 and March 28, 1545, but the majority of them was issued in the years 1543, 1544 and 1545.

“Nel 1545, a tre anni dal successo del primo libro delle Lettere volgari, Paolo Manuzio fece uscire il secondo libro. Secondo Anne Jacobson Schutte, si trattava dell'antologia epistolare a più alta concentrazione di lettere eterodosse di quegli anni. Era la prima raccolta di cui si pubblicava un secondo volume, imitando nella serialità le edizione delle lettere d'autore, in particolare quelle dell'Aretino […] Questa scelta permise al Manuzio di sfruttare al massimo un'operazione editoriale di successo, consentendogli di puntare su un pubblico già consolidato. E in effetti anche questa antologia fu un best seller […] Rispetto al primo libro, che riportava missive di 56 autori, il secondo appariva un po' meno dispersivo, giacché gli autori erano 43, di cui 14 presenti in entrambe i volumi. Inoltre nel secondo libro si incontra una notevole diminuzione delle lettere anonime: sono 2 contro le 11 del primo libro. Di alcuni autori in comune si rileva un aumento del numero di lettere: è il caso di Francesco della Torre (da 8 a 20 lettere), di Claudio Tolomei (da 1 a 10) e di Marcantonio Flaminio (da 1 a 4). Seppure si trattasse della ripetizione della stessa formula, era un volume del tutto autonomo, che si poteva leggere senza difficoltà anche se non si conosceva il primo libro […] Ad analizzare il secondo libro delle Lettere volgari si scopre un progetto complesso, in cui il lettore era messo a contatto con i temi religiosi in modo forse più chiaro e articolato rispetto al primo libro. Almeno dal punto di vista dottrinale, il messaggio era meno implicito. Il piccolo ma solidale mondo degli ‘spirituali' trovava all'interno del volume uno spazio considerevole e veniva presentato sia attraverso un esempio di conversione (così come nel primo libro si veniva a conoscenza dell'avvicinamento del Vergerio a Renata di Francia e alla Marchesa di Pescara), sia attraverso un gruppo di lettere dottrinali in cui venivano esposti alcuni dei passi più significativi dell'opera intorno alla quale, tra il 1541 e il 1543, si erano concentrate le discussioni dei valdesiani: il Beneficio di Cristo[…] Un terzo elemento – forse meno appariscente […] - è il ricordo del vescovo di Verona Gian Matteo Giberti, morto il 30 dicembre 1543” (L. Braida, Libri di lettere. Le raccolte epistolari del Cinquecento tra inquietudini religiose e ‘buon volgare', Bari, 2009, pp. 75, 77- 79).

“In the light of these considerations the percentages above attain considerable significance. They suggest that a strong interest in Evangelism existed when the first lettere volgari anthology appeared in the fateful year 1542. It peaked in 1545, when almost one-third of Antonio Manuzio's anthology was devoted to Evangelical letters” (A. Jacobson-Schutte, The Lettere Volgari and the Crisis of Evangelism in Italy, in: “Renaissance Quarterly”, 28/4, 1975, p. 664).

Castiglione, Baldassarre to [Avalos, Alfonso d'], Marquis of Vasto. Madrid, March 14, 1525 (l. 3r)

id. to [Colonna, Vittoria], Marquise of Pescara. Madrid, March 21, 1525 (l. 3v)

id. to [Trivulzio, Margherita], Countess of Somaglia. Toledo, June 16, 1525 (l. 4r)

id. to [Fioramonda, Ippolita], Marquise of Scaldasole. Toledo, June 21, 1525 (l. 5r)

id. to [Colonna, Vittoria], Marquise of Pescara. Valladolid, August 25, 1522 [i.e. 1527] (l. 5v)

id. to id. Burgos, September 21, 1527 (l. 6v)

Guicciardini, Francesco to Bembo, [Pietro]. [December, 1538] (l. 7v)

Alamanni, Luigi to [Colonna, Vittoria], Marquise of Pescara. Lyon, [May, 1540] (l. 8v)

Bonfadio, Jacopo to Tomacello, Plinio. Gazano, [August, 1544] (l. 9r)

id. to Carnesecchi, Pietro. [Roma, 1538] (l. 12v)

id. to Ramberti, Benedetto. Padova, November 27, 1543 (l. 12v)

Tolomei, Claudio to Manuzio, Paolo. Roma, August 2, 1543 (l. 13r)

id. to Grimaldi, Giovanni Battista. Roma, August 6, 1543 (l. 14v)

id. to id. Roma, September 25, 1543 (l. 15r)

id. to Aretino, Pietro. Roma, August 2, 1544 (l. 15v)

id. to [Orsini d'Aragona, Francesco], Bishop of Tricarico. Roma (l. 16r)

id. to Contile, Luca. Roma, June 30, 1543 (l. 18r)

id. to Corner, Andrea, Bishop of Brescia. Roma, July 21, 1543 (l. 19v)

id. to Aretino, Pietro. Roma, April 8, 1541 (l. 20r)

id. to Paganucci, Bartolomeo. Roma, July 12, 1543 (l. 20v)

Paganucci, Bartolomeo to Tolomei, Claudio. Farnese, July 24, 1543 (l. 21v)

Tolomei, Claudio to Paganucci, Bartolomeo. Roma, July 29, 1543 (l. 23v)

id. to Manuzio, Paolo. Roma, February 21, 1545 (l. 24v)

Aretino, Pietro to Speroni, Sperone. Venezia, November 10, 1542 (l. 25r)

Aldobrandini, Silvestro to Manuzio, Paolo. Ferrara, September 23, 1544 (l. 25v)

Manuzio, Paolo to Aldobrandini, Silvestro. Venezia, October 1, 1544 (l. 26r)

Fracastoro, [Girolamo] to Gualteruzzi, Carlo. Verona, August 12, 1543 (l. 26v)

Guidiccioni, Giovanni to Della Corna, Rinaldo. Roma, March 20, 1531 (l. 28v)

Frangipani, Cornelio to Ramberti, Benedetto. Udine, November 28, 1540 (l. 29v)

Gheri, Cosimo, Bishop of Fano to id. Padova, August 18, 1534 (l. 30r)

id. to id. Padova, August 26, 1536 (l. 30v)

Della Torre, Francesco to id. Verona, September 13, 1540 (l. 31v)

id. to id. Verona, January 14, 1543 (l. 32r)

id. to id. Verona, May 8, 1544 (l. 35v)

id. to id. Verona, February 18, 1543 (l. 37r)

id. to id. Verona, September 26, 1543 (l. 38r)

id. to id. Verona, November 8, 1543 (l. 38v)

Buonarroti, Michelangelo to Aretino, Pietro. [Roma, November 20, 1537] (l. 40r)

Camillo [Delminio], Giulio to Abbioso, Agostino. Bologna, August 14, 1521 (l. 40v)

Della Torre, Francesco to Mazo, Francesco. Verona, June 15, 1544 (l. 41r)

id. to Ariosto, Galasso. Mantova, October 7, 1537 (l. 42v)

id. to id. Verona, September 26, 1537 (l. 43r)

id. to id. Verona, November 17, 1538 (l. 43v)

id. to id. Verona, November 21, 1543 (l. 44v)

Speroni, Sperone to Ramberti, Benedetto. Padova (l. 45r)

Corner, Giovanni to [Giberti, Gian Matteo], Bishop of Verona. Venezia, January 10, 1542 (l. 45v)

[Giberti, Gian Matteo], Bishop of Verona to Corner, Giovanni. Verona, January 19, 1542 (l. 46v)

[Manetti] Latino Giovenale to Giovanni Giacomo da Roma. Roma, June 3, 1539 (l. 47r)

[Avalos, Alfonso d'], Marquis of Vasto to Aretino, Pietro. Correggio, [1531?] (l. 47v)

Dolce, Ludovico to Manuzio, Paolo. Padova, June 11, 1544 (l. 48v)

id. to Barro, Giacomo. Padova (l. 49r)

id. to Gasparo Gioielliere. Padova (l. 49v)

Brocardo, Antonio to Mirtilli, Marietta. 1531 (l. 50r)

Frangipani, Cornelio to Melso, Giovanni. Udine (l. 51r)

Camillio [Delminio], Giulio to Aretino, Pietro. [May 7, 1538] (l. 52v)

Ramberti, Benedetto to Manuzio, Paolo. Venezia, December 14, 1542 (l. 53r)

Bonfadio, Jacopo to id. Roma, [Fall, 1539] (l. 53v)

Flaminio, Marco Antonio to Sauli, Teodora. Napoli, February 12, 1542 (l. 54r)

id. to Caracciolo, [Galeazzo]. Viterbo, February 14, 1543 (l. 56v)

id. to Flaminio, Cesare. Roma, February 15, 1544 (l. 61r)

[id.] to Gualteruzzi, Carlo. February, 28, 1542 (l. 63v)

Sadoleto, Paolo to id. Carpentras, December 28, 1543 (l. 64v)

Della Torre, Francesco to Carnesecchi, [Paolo]. Verona, October 8, 1544 (l. 65v)

id. to id. Verona, November 7, 1544 (l. 66r)

Giovio, [Paolo] to id. Roma, March 11, 1545 (l. 66v)

Florimonte, Galeazzo to Ariosto, Galasso. Roma, July 5, 1537 (l. 67r)

id. to id. Roma, August 12, 1537 (l. 69r)

id. to id. Loreto, April 6, 1540 (l. 71v)

id. to id. Loreto, September 9, 1540 (l. 72r)

id. to id. Roma (l. 72v)

id. to id. Loreto, March 1, 1542 (l. 73r)

id. to id. Loreto, March 19, 1542 (l. 73v)

id. to id. Loreto, April 19, 1542 (l. 74v)

Della Torre, Francesco to id. Mantova, September 6, 1537 (l. 75r)

Merenda, Apollonio to [Pole, Reginald]. Amantea, January 31, 1545 (l. 76r)

Petreo, Giovanni to Micheli, Giovanni. Roma, March 28, 1545 (l. 76v)

Bendidio, Marco Antonio to Olivi, Camillo. (l. 77v)

Goselini, Giuliano to Sala, Bartolomeo. Speyer, March 19, 1544 (l. 79r)

Giovio, [Paolo] to Aretino, Pietro. Roma, March 11, 1545 (l. 79v)

Ferrini, Bartolomeo to Trotti, Alfonso. (l. 80v)

Lollio, Alberto to Perinati, Ercole. Villa Lolliana, October 21, 1543 (l. 81r)

Ariosto, Galasso to [Este, Ippolito II d'], Cardinal of Ferrara. (l. 96r)

[Este, Ippolito II d'], Cardinal of Ferrara to Ariosto, Galasso. Vallusano, April 13, 1539 (l. 98r)

Ariosto, Galasso to Manuzio, Paolo. Reggio Emilia, July 8, 1544 (l. 98r)

Susio, Giovanni Battista to Badoer, Federico. Venezia, March 9, 1544 (l. 100r)

Dolce, Ludovico to Manuzio, Paolo. Pieve di Sacco, February 19, 1545 (l. 102r)

Della Torre, Francesco to Michiel, Giovanni. Verona, October 4, 1544 (l. 103r)

Eremita, [Giovanni] to Ariosto, Galasso. Roma, [November 11], 1539 (l. 103v)

id. to id. Roma, February 19, 1544 (l. 106r)

id. to id. Roma, August 20, [1541] (l. 107r)

F.B.D.S. [Ochino, Bernardino] to [Avalos, Alfonso d'], Marquis of Vasto. Venezia, February 10, 1542 (l. 108v)

Gambara, Veronica to Michiel, Giovanni. Correggio, December 31, 1542 (l. 110r)

Girolamo da Correggio to id. Bologna, May 16, 1543 (l. 110v)

Boccaccio, Giovanni to De' Rossi, Pino. [1361-1362] (l. 111v)

Della Torre, Francesco to Rullo, Donato. Verona, January 23, 1540 (l. 127v)

id. to id. Verona, December 9, 1541 (l. 129r)

id. to id. Verona, September 1, 1542 (l. 129v)

id. to id. Verona, July 20, 1543 (l. 130v)

id. to id. Verona, April 7, 1544 (l. 131r)

id. to id. Verona, December 27, 1540 (l. 131v)

Gualteruzzi, Carlo to id. Roma, January 5, 1544 (l. 132r)

Paolo was the youngest son of Aldo Manuzio the Elder. He had the misfortune to lose his father at the age of two. After this event his grandfather and two uncles, the three Asolani, carried on the Aldine Press, while Paolo prosecuted his early studies at Venice. Excessive application hurt his health, which remained weak during the rest of his life. At the age of twenty-one he had acquired a solid reputation for scholarship and learning.

In 1533 Paolo undertook the conduct of his father's business, which has latterly been much neglected by his uncles. Paolo determined to restore the glories of the house, and in 1540 he separated from his uncles. The field of Greek literature having been well night exhausted, he devoted himself principally to the Latin classics. He was a passionate Ciceronian, and perhaps his chief contributions to scholarship are the corrected editions of Cicero's letters and orations, his own epistles in a Ciceronian style, and his Latin version of Demosthenes. Throughout his life he combined the occupations of a scholar and a printer, winning an even higher celebrity in the former field than his father had done. Four treatises from his pen on Roman antiquities deserve to be commemorated for their erudition no less than for the elegance of their Latinity.

Several Italian cities contended for the possession of so rare a man. He also received tempting offers from the Spanish court. Although his publications were highly esteemed, their sale was slow. Thus his life was a permanent struggle with pecuniary difficulties. In 1556 he received for a time external support from the Accademia Veneta, founded by Federico Badoer, who failed disgracefully in 1559, and the academy was extinct in 1562. Meanwhile Paolo had established his brother Antonio, a man of good parts but indifferent conduct, in a printing office and book shop at Bologna. Antonio died in 1559, having been a source of trouble and expense to Paolo during the last four years of his life. Other pecuniary embarrassment arose from a contract for supplying fish to Venice, into which Paolo had somewhat strangely entered with the government.

In 1561 Pius IV invited him to Rome, offering him a yearly stipend of 500 ducats, and undertaking to establish and maintain his press there. The profits were to be divided between Paolo Manuzio and the Apostolic Camera. Paolo accepted the invitation, and spent the larger portion of his life, under three papacies, with various fortunes in the city of Rome. The works published by the Stamperia del Popolo Romano were mostly Latin works of theology and Biblical or patristic literature. Meanwhile his eldest son, the younger Aldo, had succeeded him in the management of the Venetian printing house. Overtaxed with studies and commercial worries Paolo died at Rome in his sixty-second year (cf. T. Sterza, Paolo Manuzio editore a Venezia (1533-1561), in: “ACME. Annali della Facoltà di lettere e filosofia dell'Università degli studi di Milano”, 61/2, 2008, pp. 123-168; and F. Barberi, Paolo Manuzio e la stamperia del popolo romano (1561-1570): con documenti inediti, Roma, 1942, passim).

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