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In Contemporary Calf
RAMUSIO, Giovanni Battista. Delle Navigationi et Viaggi... in Tre Volume divise: Nelle quali con relatione fedelissima si desrivono tutti quei paesi, che da già 300 anni sin’hora sono stati scoperti, così di verso Levante, & Ponente, come di verso Mezzo dì, & Tramontana. Venice, Giunti, 1588,1583,1606.
Folio [31 x 21 cm], I: (4), 34, 161, 161-394 ff. with 1 woodcut map of Nile and several plans in text, 3 double-page engraved maps present (pace Sabin); II: (26), 256, 1-90 ff. (irreg. numbered); III: (6), 36, 430 ff., with 2 full-page and 7 double-page woodcut maps, and numerous woodcuts in text. Uniformly bound in contemporary French calf, spine gilt with raised bands. Ex libris of A. de St.-Ferriol on front pastedown, and second ex libris in vols. II & III of Henry Percival Biggar. Some underlining in ink in vol. III, mainly of Mexican names. Expert repairs to joints and to a few small punctures in binding; some dampstaining in lower right corner of title in vol. I, and some leaves discolored or toned; hole in text on p. 245 affecting c. two words of text; pale waterstain on a few leaves in vol. II; some discoloration in margin/right side of scattered leaves, a few spots on pp. 58ff.; some minor foxing and dampstaining in margin of scattered leaves; hole on p. 398 affecting partial letters. That said, a wide margined copy.
$65,000 Fine set of the first scholarly voyage collection assembled in the 16th century, one of the first in a modern language, with more maps and illustrations than any prior anthology, and containing many accounts not previously published. A copy most unusual, however, for its binding: this is the only copy of Ramusio in we have ever seen on the market in contemporary calf, almost certainly French, judging from the distinctive T’s indicating the volume numbers.
Although the work’s importance for Portuguese voyages to India and Africa are well known, as is its importance as Americana, Lach highlights its significance for Asia in vol. I: he mentions 5 Jesuit letters on Japan written between 1549 and 1555, 6 chapters translated into Italian from Barros, and most importantly, the material on China in volume II:
“Here Marco Polo occupies the place of honor at the beginning of the volume. In his preface to his travels, Ramusio remarks that, though many people had once been dubious about the veracity of Polo’s stories, he certainly did not report marvels any more incredible than the tales of the New World which were circulating in the sixteenth century. Ramusio clearly is inclined to accept Polo at face value. He even prepared a table of latitudes and longitudes from the geography of Abufalda Ismael to identify as closely as possible the places in Asia mentioned by Polo. The original of the text printed in Ramusio has never been located and so his is considered one of the several basic extant versions of Marco Polo.” – Lach, Asia in the Making of Europe0 I.1.207.
As for Americana, the work, illustrated with 7 maps by Gastaldi, includes descriptions by Peter Martyr, Oviedo, Cortez, Pizzaro, Cabeza de Vaca, Verrazzano, and Cartier devoted to early exploration of North America. The seven large woodcut maps in volume III contain, in addition to the map of Brazil, "La Nouva Francia," which is the second separate map of the northeast, "La Terra de Hochelaga," the first plan of Montreal and the earliest printed plan of a settlement in North America. Gastaldi’s map of the western hemisphere is, according to Wheat, “the earliest cartographic reflection” of the advance of European knowledge about the American west.
According to Borba, the present set includes the most complete edition of volume three on the Americas, and he highlights for Brazilian interest the account of Cabral’s voyage in volume I, and that of Parmentier in volume III: “of great importance to the history of Brazilian navigation. It is a basic document which proves Parmentier’s voyages along the Brazilian coast.” – II.699
A public servant of the Venetian republic, Ramusio was the first genuine scholar to produce a travel collection, translating the documents directly from the original sources whenever possible. His purpose in compiling it was in line with 16th-century Italian humanism, the dissemination of increasingly rare historical texts in accurate editions in the vernacular; the end in view is historical knowledge rather than commercial reconnaissance. Ramusio was involved with a distinguished circle of Venetian humanists, including such luminaries as Bembo, Navagero, Paulo Manuzio (of the Aldine publishing house) and Girolamo Fracastoro, although the work’s place in 16th-century Italian historical writing appears to be largely unconsidered.
According to Church, the earliest editions of the individual volumes of the series to reach completeness are 1554 (for vol. I), 1583 (for vol. II), and 1606 (for vol. III). Although after the condition of the copy, we reckon textual completeness to be the second most important characteristic in assessing the merits of a Ramusio set, it is worth mentioning that 2 of the 3 volumes are first appearances in this optimal stage of completeness.
* Borba II.698-99; Sabin 67,733, 67,738, 67,742; George B. Parks, ?The contents and sources of Ramusio?s Navigationi,? Bulletin of the New York Public Library 59.6 (1955), 279-313 and ?Ramusio?s Literary History,? Studies in Philology LI (1955), 127.
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