A FINE MANTUA EDITION OF THIS FAMOUS WORK OF MACARONIC LITERATURE

Folengo, Teofilo. Theophili Folengi vulgo Merlini Cocaii Opus Macaronicum notis illustratum, cui accessit vocabularium vernaculum, etruscum, et latinum. Editio omnium locupletissima. Pars prima [-altera]. Amstelodami [i.e.: Mantova]: sumptibus Josephi Braglia typographi Mantuani ad signum Virgilii, 1768-1771.

4to (266x196 mm), half vellum binding, marbled paper at boards, gilt title on leather label at spine (worn); 2 vols; pp. [4], 8, LV, [1], 307, [19], [1] folding plate, [1] plate; [6], 411, [1].
First vol. title-page in red and black types and second one in black types, both with the engraved portrait of Virgil in a round frame, with the motto “Mantua me genuit. Ex antiq. Gemma”. Full page portrait of the Author at frontispiece, engraved by Domenico Cagnoni on a drawing by Domenico Maria Conti. A folding plate with the genealogy of the Author. Large and very fine chalcographic initials, head- and final-pieces.
For the correct printing place (Mantua instead of Amsterdam), see M. Parenti, Dizionario dei luoghi di stampa falsi, inventati o supposti. Firenze, 1951, p. 19 e BLC, 75, col. 14.

At the end of the text, in the second volume, there is a short Mantua dialect - Tuscan – Latin vocabulary, with its own half-title page: “Saggio d'un vocabolario mantovano, toscano e latino ad uso singolarmente di chi le mantovane voci brama di esprimere con le toscane loro corrispondenti”.

Teofilo Folengo (November 8, 1491 – December 9, 1544), who wrote under the pseudonym of Merlino Coccajo or Merlinus Coccaius, was one of the principal Italian macaronic poets.

Provenance: Handwritten ownership inscriptions at both title-pages (partially deleted).

References: IT\ICCU\LO1E\003791. OCLC, 17289121 and 906508979.

Strong traces of use to the binding, with abrasions and lack of paper at boards. Browning at some leaves; water-stains; soiling at title-pages. Worm-holes at some leaves bottom (second vol.). A fair copy.