PICO, Ranuccio.

by Ranuccio Pico

£2,750 · Offered by Sokol Books

First edition of this concise and extremely fascinating biography of Godfrey of Bouillon, written in Italian vernacular by Ranuccio Pico (1568-1645). A doctor of law and historian, Pico was the secretary of the Dukes of Parma, Ranuccio I and Odoardo Farnese. He is mostly known for his biographical works and for gathering a library of more than one thousand rare and important books. Godfrey of Bouillon (1060-1100) was a French knight and one of the leaders of the first Crusade. After playing a key role during the siege of Jerusalem in 1099, he was elected the first ruler of the new Crusader State. Celebrated by many authors almost as a legendary figure, he is the protagonist of La Gerusalemme Liberata (The freed Jerusalem, 1581), a long epic poem by the famous poet Torquato Tasso and one of the masterpieces of the Italian literature. In the preface to this biography, Pico praises the work written by Tasso at length, but he also points out that due to the entertaining nature of poetry many facts are historically incorrect or completely missing. Therefore, as all the other accounts of Godfrey s life were in Latin and thus difficult to comprehend for the majority of readers, the author is confident that his Vita di Gottifredo ( Life of Godfrey ) will be useful and appreciated. Remarkably, at the beginning of his work, Pico quotes a few verses written by the poets Francesco Petrarca and Giambattista Marino concerning Godfrey of Bouillon s military achievements. After a list of the

• Binding: Hardcover

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.