ALBERTI, Leon Battista.

Hecatomphila che ne insegnia l’ingeniosa arte d’amore. Deiphira che ne mostra suggir il mal principiato amore.

      A combined edition of the Ecatomfila and the Deifira, Alberti’s two dialogues on love. They originally appeared separately in 1471, probably the first works of literature by a living author printed in Italian. They treat the vagaries of love from different perspectives. In the Ecatomfila, a woman, expert in matters of love, counsels her youthful listeners on how to secure and keep love. The ideal lover is prudent, modest, and virtuous; above all, he is a man of letters. In the Deifira Filarco counsels Pallimacro, hopelessly in love with Deifira, on the dangers of love and on how the humanist may experience the intensity of love as a young man without abandoning his literary and artistic pursuits.The emblem of the vase of flames – the symbol of love, carnal and spiritual – occurs on both Italian and French renaissance bindings. Anthony Hobson cites examples of its use in Humanists and Bookbinders, Cambridge, 1989, pp. 165-166. See also two examples in Breslauer, cat. 110, nos. 23 and 25.Contemporary owner’s initials at foot of title “F.M.S.I.B.”. From the library of L.A. Barbet, sale Paris (Giraud-Badin), part 2 (Oct-Nov. 1932), lot 256. De Marinis (La legatura artistica in Italia), no. 2202.Sander, no. 148. Venice, Giovanni Antonio et Fratelli da Sabbio ad instantia de Nicolo & Francesco Librari al Dolphin, 1528.