MARCALDI, Francesco.

by Francesco Marcaldi

£9,750 · Offered by Sokol Books

Attractive near-contemporary manuscript account of Mary Queen of Scots life up to 1578, the year of her husband s death, by the hand of the Italian scribal publisher Francesco Marcaldi. Over 40 autograph copies of this work are known in libraries, dating from 1579 to 1587, each introduced by a unique letter of transmission including a different dedication, date and location of writing. The present one was written in Venice and presented to Alessandro Monte, probably a member of the prestigious Bourbon del Monte family of Pesaro. During the second half the 16th century, Francesco Marcaldi wrote and transcribed various short accounts of Italian and foreign states, including Scotland (here), Venice, Naples, Cyprus, and Spain, and sent them to diplomats, clerics, soldiers and other patrons. The recipients of his gifts were often individuals of very high status, for example members of the Medici and Este families, and cardinal Federico Borromeo. At the time, scribal transmission being faster and more confidential than printing played a great role in diffusing political information: the case of Marcaldi is particularly interesting as over a hundred of his manuscript reports are preserved. Beautifully designed and personalized gifts, Marcaldi s manuscripts were intended to give pleasure for their form as well as to provide interest through their content (Richardson). Marcaldi s Life of Mary Queen of Scots is one of her earliest biographies, dealing with the travails, persecutions an

• Binding: Hardcover

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