Lastri, Marco.

[AMERICANA]. L’Elogio di Amerigo Vespucci. Composato dal Proposto Marco Lastri Fiorentino.

Florence: Francesco Moijcke, 1787. Item #1369

8vo. 205 x 135 mm., [8 x 5 ¼ inches]. 26 leaves. Printed on heavy paper. Caption title printed in red ink. Bound in late 19^th century leather backed marbled paper boards.

Only edition printed in 100 copies. Eulogy of the life of Amerigo Vespucci, citizen of Florence, written by Marco Lastri, a Florentine reformer, agricultural writer, and local antiquary. Published to commemorate one of Florence’s most important explorers and to celebrate those characteristics of the Florentine character that are represented in his achievements. Lastri weaves the ideas of courage, fortitude, and the republican spirit, which are reflected in both the Florentine and American experiences, throughout his essay. He connects the establishment of the new nation in America to Florentine history and the struggles of its peoples to remain independent and free of foreign domination.

Marco Lastri (1731-1811) was an enlightenment thinker and polymath, whose writings included experiments in new agricultural techniques, a reform of land ownership and tenancy, a history of Tuscan painting that transformed the critical reception of early Florentine painters, and a history of Florence and its development as a civil society.

Printed in only 100 copies, OCLC cites copies at Yale, Newberry, Michigan, LC, and John Carter Brown Library.

Price: $850.00