La libraria del Doni Fiorentino [with] La seconda libraria del doni

Venice: Gabriel Giolito de Ferrari; Francesco Marcolini, 1550-1551. First editions. Very Good. Two volumes bound in one. 12mo (14 cm); 70, [2] leaves, last blank; 112, [7] leaves, (lacking blank K/12?). Giolito devices on first title page and on verso of F/12; Marcolini devices on tp of second title and on verso of K/11. Woodcut initials in first title. Italic and Roman type. In vellum over boards, titled in manuscript on spine, "Doni Libreria T. I. II." If anyone is interested, the first section has all the first-issue points noted by Bongi (there was a second issue in the same year, with minor changes). 19th-century pictorial bookplate of Thomas Gaisford.

References: Bongi I, 287 ("queste due operette del Doni ... tengono luogo assai importante nella biblioteca italiana"); Marsili-LIbelli, 22; Mortimer, Italian, 163 (second ed.); Adams D-817 and D-822; BM Italian, 225-226.

Doni's idea was to catalogue all the Italian-language authors published to date and record his impressions of them. These efforts broke fresh ground in several camps: book collecting, bibliography, and reader criticism. Bongi wrote, "Everyone knows these two books are the first Italian studies in bibliography, and, as always, the author displays his ingenuity and his bizarre sense of humor, recording there unusual comments and singular judgments." Volume 1 is a catalogue of printed books, while volume 2 concentrates on manuscripts.