In Firenze: Nella Stamperia di S. A. R. per il Tartini, e Franchi, 1731-32. Item #964

Five volumes in four.  8vo.  220 x 160 mm., [9 x 6 ¼ inches].  [xii], xxiv, 334, [x] pp.; [xii], 349, [3] pp.; [xii], 362, [vi] pp.; [x], 195, [v]; 104 pp.  Engraved portrait designed by D. Ferrelli and engraved by G, Magalli; engraved title-page vignette, woodcut head and tail-pieces and initial letters throughout.  Full contemporary vellum binding, brown leather labels; some slight discoloration to the bindings and a few stains, otherwise excellent condition.  Beautifully printed on excellent paper stock. 
 

First collected edition. Benedetto Menzini, a Florentine poet, linguist, critic, and member of the most important academies of Tuscany and Rome, was an exacting writer whose skill with the Tuscan language caused him to be exalted and vilified for his published opinions of the work of some of his contemporaries.  In addition to his academic work Menzini was a satirist, who modelled his writing after the classical authors of Rome.  Because of his biting commentary his work circulated in manuscript only and when finally published 15 years after his death was placed on the Index because of its “mocking tone and the topics it addressed.”  His supporters considered his work to be “unsurpassed examples of Tuscan satire.”

This edition of his works includes songs, sonnets, and madrigals, his thoughts on philosophy, poetry, and elegies written in poetic form; his prose works, satires, and discourses published for the Arcadia di Roma and his essay on Tuscan language and history.  The work concludes with a biography of Menzini, thought to be lacking in its critical appraisal. 

Laterza, Dizionario enciclopedico della litteratura italiana, III, pp. 582-83.  Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 73. 

Price: $650.00