Libro di Marco Aurelio con l'horologio de' prencipi

£800 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

An unsophisticated copy, in good condition, of a later Italian edition of Fray Antonio de Guevara’s (1480?-1545) extraordinarily popular Relox de Principes , an enlarged version of his (largely fictional) biography of exemplary Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, the Libro Aureo. First published in Spain in 1528 ( Libro Aureo ) and 1529 ( Relox ), both works were immensely popular and quickly translated into Italian, appearing in 1542 and 1543 respectively. According to one estimate, ‘from 1542 to 1600, in Italy alone, an edition of the Relox or Libro Aureo was published on average almost every eighteenth months’ (Mezzatesta, p.626). The present edition is the third from the press of Francesco Portonari, who also translated the work. Originally dedicated to Charles V - to whom De Guevara was made court historiographer in 1526, as described on the title page - with these works De Guevara contributed to the rediscovery and rehabilitation of the figure of Emperor Marcus Aurelius that took place during the Renaissance. Using as his basis an essentially ‘imaginary biography based largely on Julius Capitolinus’ Historia Augusta ’ (Mezzatesta, p.624), De Guevara presents a didactic treatise on princely quality and behaviour based on the example set by Marcus Aurelius, lauded as the archetypal learned prince and leader of men. The text instructs in the importance of princely piety, marriage, and governance of the state, ‘with special emphasis placed on justice and the maintenance of peace

• Year: 1575

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