Lettere Missiue, E Responsiue Delle Bestie, Con L'Osseruationi Sopra Cadauna Lettera: Publicate, E Dedicate Da Carlo Moscheni All' Uniuersita De' Signori Curiosi. In Bologna, Pet Giacomo Monti. 1673. Cum Licenza De Superiori.
Missive and Responsive Letters of the Beasts, with Observations on Each Letter: Published and Dedicated by Carlo Moscheni to the Society of Curious Gentlemen. Bologna, by Giacomo Monti, 1673. With Permission of the Superiors.
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The work belongs to the "bestiary" genre, which had been popular since medieval times, but with a twist: Moscheni uses the animals as fictional authors to offer humorous or critical commentary on human affairs. The book’s format - letters supposedly penned by "beasts" - allowed Moscheni to deliver critiques that might otherwise have been controversial if expressed directly.
It is an extremely rare work, only two copies are known institutionally worldwide of this first edition. It was reprinted a bit later on in the 17th century and that second edition is much better attested to; this first edition is a genuinely very rare book.
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Size: 87 x 143 mm (approx.)
Condition:
[(1), t.p., pp.5-310, (2)]
Quarter marbled brown calf over marbled paper backed boards with a black tooled label in a compartment to the spine between gilt bands. Binding shows nicely on the shelf, very minor wear. Boards slightly warped. Page edges toned with foxing. Minor shelf and edge wear. Text block clean with light toning and occasional foxing, some leaves more toned than others. Smudged ink inscriptions to pp.309 and pp.310, seeping through to the other side and somewhat transferred to pp.308 and rear blank. Pencil inscriptions to rear pastedown. Leaf edge repair to pp.23/24 on the pp.24 side. Bottom corner of pp.271/272 lacking, affecting some text.
