Beschreibung:

Alamanni, Luigi. La coltiuatione di Luigi Alamanni al christianissimo re Francesco primo. Florence: (Bernardo Giunta), 1549 (colophon: In Fiorenza Appresso Bernardo Giunti, 1549)
This finely gold-tooled binding was made for William Bill (ca. 1505–1561) by the anonymous King Edward VI and Queen Mary Binder, a London atelier active from about 1545 until at least 1558, producing armorial bindings for Henry VIII and Edward VI (as Prince of Wales and as King) and for Queen Mary, as well as for non-royal patrons; altogether, some one hundred bindings can be assigned to the shop. Five of this approximate century of bindings were made for Bill (nos. 1, 3, 4, 6, 9 in the listing below).
William Bill was a contemporary of Roger Ascham at St John’s College Cambridge, gaining his BD in 1544, and his DD in 1547. He was elected Vice Chancellor of the University in 1548 and, in 1551, Master of Trinity College Cambridge. Bill retired from public life during the reign of Queen Mary (July 1553–November 1558); however, when Elizabeth ascended the throne, he was favored with a quick succession of appointments, including Lord High Almoner (1558), Provost of Eton (1559), and Dean of Westminster (1560). He died 15 July 1561 and was buried in St Benedict’s chapel in Westminster Abbey.
The bindings commissioned by Bill from the King Edward and Queen Mary Binder are in a similar style, decorated with a black border, with his initials centered on both covers. Three volumes Bill acquired either ready-bound or second-hand have his initials WB stamped in blind in the side margins of both covers: one is a Cambridge binding by Nicolaus Spierinck (no. 5), another a Cambridge binding by Garret Godfrey (no. 7), and the third a roll-tooled binding (no. 8). Bill’s ownership of two volumes (nos. 2 & 10) is attested by ownership inscriptions.
The present volume has an intriguing later provenance: Sir Julius Caesar (1557/1558–1636), the eldest son of Cesare Adelmare of Treviso (d. 1569), physician to Queen Mary and Elizabeth, and Margery Perient (Peryent, Perin; d. ca. 1583). Julius was educated privately in the household of William Cecil, Lord Burghley, gained a BA (1577) and MA (1578) at Magdalen Hall Oxford, and an LLB and LLD (1581) in Paris. He records on the upper pastedown that the book was a gift from his mother (“Liber Julij Caesaris ex dono matris”), followed by a line in Greek (To be borne and hoped for).
Julius assembled an impressive library, divided between his house at Hackney and his office at the Rolls, which contained at least 42 books in Italian (these are enumerated in a list: British Library, Ms. Lansdowne, 161/21, fol. 47–48v). The Alamanni is not present, unless it is to be identified with no. 6 (“Di Agricultura utilissimo, Trattato da diversi authoris”). In his will (27 February 1636; National Archives PROB 11/170), Julius instructed that his library be divided between his two eldest sons: Sir Charles Caesar (1590–1642), by his first marriage, and Sir John Caesar (1597–1647), by his second marriage. His manuscript collection remained completely or substantially intact until a sale conducted by Samuel Patterson, 24 November 1757; nothing is known of the dispersal of Julius’ printed books.
Luigi Alamanni’s La coltiuatione is a valuable source of technical information about how land in northern Italy was cultivated, addressing topical issues such as soil conservation (the author recommends ploughing hillsides parallel to the contours, rather than up and down the slopes; Book IV, lines 143–147), and calling urgently for permanent enclosure of pastures (Book I, lines 36–46). The book is partly based on the agronomic treatise of Pietro de’ Crescenzi, and partly inspired by Virgil’s Georgics. It was composed in France over many years by the Florentine émigré Alamanni (1495–1556), dedicated to François I, and first published in Paris by Robert Estienne in 1546.
Books Belonging to William Bill
(1) Luigi Alamanni, La coltiuatione di Luigi Alamanni al christianissimo re Francesco primo (Florence: Bernardo I Giunta, 1549). The volume here offered for sale.
(2) Biblia Latina planeque nova Sebast. Munsteri tralatione, post omneis omnium hactenus ubiuis gentium aeditiones euulgata, & quoad fieri potuit, Hebraicae veritati conformata (Basel: Johann Bebel, Michael Isengrin & Heinrich Petri, 1534). William Bill, inscription “Gulielmus Billus” on title-page. London, Westminster Abbey, A.6. 8 1/2.Foot, “Two bindings”, op. cit., p.26; David Goldstein, “Hebrew printed books in the library of Westminster Abbey” in Transactions, Jewish Historical Society of England 27 (1978-1980), pp.151-154 (p.151 no. 3)
(3) Vittoria Colonna, Le rime spirituali (Venice: Vincenzo Valgrisi, 1548); bound with: Bernardo Tasso, Libro primo de gli amori di Bernardo Tasso (Venice: Giovanni Antonio Nicolini da Sabbio & Fratelli, 1531); and with Ortensio Lando, Della vera tranquillità dell’animo (Venice: Heirs of Aldo Manuzio, July 1544). William Bill, supralibros — Della Scala ( exlibris) — John Ker, Duke of Roxburghe (1740–1804; W. H. Evans, The library of the late John, Duke of Roxburghe, London, 18 May-14 July 1812, lot 3017 — Richard Heber (1773-1833); possibly R.H. Evans, Bibliotheca Heberiana. Catalogue of the library of the late Richard Heber, Esq. Part the seventh, London, 25 May-17 June 1835, lot 1547 —George John Warren 5th Baron Vernon (1803-1866) — Sir George Lindsay Holford (1860-1926); Sotheby & Co., Catalogue of extremely choice & valuable books principally from continental presses, and in superb morocco bindings, forming part of the collections removed from Dorchester House, Park Lane, the property of Lt.-Col. Sir George Holford, London, 5-9 December 1927, lot 218 — Arthur - bought in sale (£50) — Sotheby & Co., Catalogue of valuable printed books, London, 1-3 July 1935, lot 504 (lots 491-513 offered as “The Property of a Gentleman - Books in fine bindings”) — Broadbent - bought in sale (£19) — G. Michelmore & Co., London; their Catalogue 37/II: Important and rare books, manuscripts, autographs, drawings, and fine old bindings (London [1949?]), item 166; Sotheby & Co., Catalogue of the valuable stock of printed books, autograph letters and manuscripts of Messrs. G. Michelmore and Co., 5 Royal Opera Arcade (sold owing to the closing of business), London, 13-14 June 1955, lot 152 — Bernard Quaritch, London - bought in sale (£110) — Henry Davis (1897-1977). British Library, Henry Davis Gift 58.Hobson, op. cit., 1929, p.76 (no. x in a list of “King Edward’s Binder”); Hobson, op. cit., 1940, p.14; Foot, “Two bindings”, op. cit., pp.17-26; Mirjam Foot, The Henry Davis Gift: A Collection of bookbindings, Volume 2: A catalogue of North-European bindings (London 1983), no. 36.
(4) Gasparo Contarini, La republica e i magistrati di Vinegia (Venice: Baldo Sabini, 1551). William Bill, supralibros — Francis Harewell (1570-1629), inscription. Oxford, Bodleian.
(5) Diogenes Laertius, De vita, & moribus philosophorum libri decem (Basel: Valentin Curio, 1524); bound with: Lucianus Samosatensis, De veris narrationibus (Basel: Valentin Curio, 1524). William Bill, supralibros (initials W.B. added to a Cambridge blind-stamped binding by Nicolaus Spierinck), inscription “W. Bill” — Sir Robert Naunton (1563-1635), inscription “Robertus Naunton” — Sir William McKenny (1798-1866), inscription “Wm McKenny. T.C.D. 1816” — Alexander Gordon Wynch Murray (1884-1919), tipped-in bibliographical notes — E.P. Goldschmidt & Co., London; their Catalogue 41: Books and manuscripts, ancient and mediaeval literature (London 1936), item 125; Catalogue 47: Philosophy, manuscripts and printed books (London 1938), item 207; Catalogue 49: The Revival of learning: European scholarship in the XVth and the XVIth centuries (London 1938), item 74; Catalogue 58: Printed books of the XVth to the XVIIIth century (London 1940), item 58 — Clara Hornby (d. 1953). University of Liverpool, SPEC EP.B57.E.P. Goldschmidt, Gothic & Renaissance bookbindings exemplified and illustrated from the author’s collection (London 1928), no. 125; Hobson, op. cit., 1940, p.14; Foot, “Two bindings”, op. cit., p.22.
(6) Costanzo Felice, The conspiracie of Catiline: with the historye of Jugurth ([London, John Walley, 1557]). William Bill, supralibros — Thomas Belasyse, 1st earl Fauconberg (16271700), inscription on title-page, “Lord ffauconberg his Booke 1677” — Robert W. Dundas; Sotheby & Co., Catalogue of the very extensive and valuable library, the property of the late Robert W. Dundas, Esq. of 2, Rothsay Terrace, Edinburgh, London, 2-6 December 1929, lot 309 — Maggs Bros, London - bought in sale (£13); their Catalogue 692 (London 1940), item 587; Catalogue 800 (London 1951), item 2548; Catalogue 858 (London 1958) item 3069.Hobson, op. cit., 1940, p.14; Foot, “Two bindings”, op. cit., p.22.
(7) Sebastian Münster, Institutiones grammaticae in Hebraeam linguam (Basel: Johann Froben, 1524); bound with: Proverbia Salomonis ([Basel: Johann Froben, 1524]). Inscription on title-page, “R. Burgoyne” (Goldschmidt: “earlier than W. Bill, I should say”) — William Bill, supralibros (initials W.B. added to a Cambridge blind-stamped binding by Garet Godfrey) — Hailstone, exlibris — Edward Gordon Duff, exlibris; Sotheby & Co., Catalogue of the library of the late Edward Gordon Duff, London, 16 March 1925, lot 20 — E.P. Goldschmidt & Co., London - bought in sale (added personal exlibris; Grolier Club, E.P. Goldschmidt & Co., Financial records, 1919-1981, Stock Books, #7448, cost entered £17 10s); their Catalogue 72: A choice of various books, 1944, item 133; sold 11 January 1944, to:). Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery.Goldschmidt, op. cit., 1928, no. 123 (“on both covers are stamped the initials W.B. with exactly the same dies as used on the Spierinck binding, No. 125”); Dorothy Miner, The History of bookbinding 525-1950 AD (Baltimore 1957), no. 191; Foot, “Two bindings”, op. cit., p.22.
(8) Sebastian Münster, Dictionarium Hebraicum (Basel: [Hieronymus Froben & Nikolaus Episcopius], 1535). William Bill, supralibros (initials W.B. in blind), inscription “Gulielmus Billus.” London, Westminster Abbey, Gal. C. 4.33. Foot, “Two bindings”, op. cit., p.26
(9) Polyaenus, Gli Stratagemi di Polieno (Venice: Gabriele Giolito de Ferrari & fratelli, 1552). William Bill, supralibros. Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, Newb. 981.Foot, “Two bindings”, op. cit., pp.22, 25 no. 33.
(10) Suidas, Lexicon graecum [Greek]. (Milan : Giovanni Bissoli & Benedetto Dolcibelli, 1499). William Bill, inscription “1553. Ex dono doctoris Bill quondam Mag[istri] huius Collegij s[anc]ti Ioan[nis] Evangelistae A°d[omi]ni. 1553.” Cambridge, St. John’s College, Ii.2.9 (Inc. 155).David McKittrick, “Two sixteenth-century catalogues of St John’s College Library” in Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society 7 (1978), pp.135-155 (p.151, no. 67 and p.153 no. 92).
potential additions
(11) Le nouveau testament (Antwerp: Merten de Keyser 1535 [colophon 1525]). Bernard Quaritch, General Catalogue (London 1888), item 36300 (“morocco, with the stamped sides of the original binding let in, bearing the initials W.B.”).
(12) Desiderius Erasmus Epistolae D. Erasmi Roterodami familiares, in tres centurias diuisae, ob singularem elegantiam adolescentum studijs & captui accommodatae (Basel: [Bartholomaeus Westheimer], [1546]). Ushaw College, XVIII.A.8.1 (“Binding: blind tooled panelled calf using Oldham EBSB roll HM.h(3). Initials W.B. on front and back covers. Oxford binding 16th century").
8vo (151 x 96 mm). Italic and roman types, 28 lines plus headline. collation: A–N8: 104 leaves, foliated [1]–102, [2]. One eight-line historiated woodcut initial, Giunta’s woodcut “Novus exorior” device on A1r and N8v, register on N7r, colophon on N7v. 
binding: Contemporary English light brown calf (157 x 102 mm) by the King Edward and Queen Mary Binder, for William Bill, front cover paneled in gilt, black, and blind with central gilt initials “W B” within a cartouche surrounded by gilt stirrup, gilt leaf, and gilt bud tools, all painted in black, blind line flanked by blind fillets around sides, frame formed by two gilt fillets and painted black, adorned with small gilt rosettes and foliate arabesques, flanked by blind line and 2 blind fillets and with gilt fleurons at outer corners, traces of 2 pairs of green fabric ties, spine with 5 full and 2 half bands, compartments gilt with a rosette, spine support from a vellum manuscript, cover edges gilt with two rows of dots at each end of edge, gilt edges. (Front joint cracking, repairs to spine.) Brown buckram Abbey folding-case.
provenance: William Bill (supralibros) — Margery (Mary Margaret) Adelmare (née Perient) (d. ca. 1583) — Sir Julius Caesar (1558–1636; inscription on upper pastedown indicating the book was a present from his mother) — Charles Spencer 3rd Earl of Sunderland (1675–1722; Catalogue of the Books in the Library at Blenheim Palace, Collected by Charles, Third Earl of Sunderland [London 1872], p. 8; Puttick & Simpson, London, 1–12 December 1881, lot 143), purchased by — James Rimell & Son, London (£2 10s) — Henry Benjamin Wheatley (1838–1917; exlibris; Sotheby’s London, 8–12 April 1918, lot 133), purchased by — James Tregaskis, London (£54; offered in their 909th, 930th, and 998th Caxton Head catalogues) — Sotheby’s London, 28 November–1 December 1938, lot 187, purchased by — Maggs Bros, London (£16) — John Roland Abbey (1894–1969; exlibris on folding-box; Sotheby’s London, 21–23 June 1965, lot 8, purchased by — Martin Breslauer, London (£270; Catalogue 100 item 40. acquisition: Purchased from Stéphane Clavreuil Rare Books, London, 2018. 
references: Edit16 606; Decia & Delfiol, Giunti 264; Pettas, Giunta 290; for the binding, see: Davenport, Cantor Lectures on Decorative Bookbinding, p .32, no. 120; G. D. Hobson, Bindings in Cambridge Libraries, p. 76; G. D. Hobson, English Bindings, 1490–1940 in the Library of J.R. Abbey, no. 12; Nixon, “Early English Gold-tooled Bookbindings,” in Studi di bibliografia e di storia in onore di Tammaro de Marinis [Verona 1964], pp. 283–308; Foot, “Two Bindings by the King Edward and Queen Mary Binder, One for William Bill and One for Queen Mary,” in The Henry Davis Gift: A Collection of Bookbindings, Volume 1 [London 1978], pp. 17–26).