Third, definitive edition of this conduct manual by Renaissance courtier, collector, patron of the arts, poet, Knight Hospitaller and polymath Sabba da Castiglione (1480-1554), and the only edition with the title-page woodcut depiction of Castiglione seated in his study, writing with his left hand.
First published in Bologna in 1546 with only 72 ricordi, by this, third edition, printed shortly after Castiglione's death, that number reached 133; it would reach twenty five editions by 1613. "Written in the vernacular, the Ricordi is an adaptation of the older ricordanze genre, typically a vehicle for anecdotes, aphorisms, and recollections on mercantile affairs for the benefit of family members" (Cavaceppi, 1); Castiglione's is written as a manual of conduct for the Catholic order of the Knights Hospitaller, of which he was a senior member. His ruminations cover all manner of subjects; on adversity, family, on the desire for knowledge, on when war is just, and when it isn't, on the importance of sleep (followed immediately by) the importance of getting up in good time; on decorating one's house; on the greatest men in history; why the good suffer and the bad prosper; on tolerating the miseries of the world, on honouring one's elders; and so on. In places Sabba adopts a strict, censorious tone - 'voi mangiate per vivere, & non vivete per mangiare' - while in other places it is anecdotal; the entry on the greatest men in history begins with his description of sitting in the shade in his garden, admiring a piece by Albrecht Durer, newly arrived from Germany.
The unsigned woodcut depicts Castiglione sitting in his studiolo, or study, in profile, in a chair with integrated desk, surrounded by books and symbols of his membership in the Hospitallers order, from the Maltese cross hanging around his neck to the square biretta he wears, and the imagery on the shield hanging behind him. It 'captures the essence of the man as an idealized Renaissance hospitaller knight...It provides a focused, uncluttered image of Sabba surrounded by only the most basic accoutrements representing his life's work' (Cavaceppi, 249), and follows a long tradition of this idea of a contemplative space in isolation, popularised by Petrarch's De Vita Solitaria. It is unusual in its depiction of Castiglione writing left-handed; following in the mode of depictions of medieval scribes and saints, Castiglione sits with the pen in his left hand and ink scraper in his right. Furthermore, he appears to be writing 'Dirige Domine sinistram meam in laude[m] tua[m], 'Lord, direct my left hand for your praise'. Castiglione refers to writing 'con la sinistra mano' in his introduction as a reason, along with his old age, for why he had not expanded the number of ricordi in the first edition of his work. Here 'Sabba seems to confront a deep-rooted social stigma head-on, while seeking to dedicate this supposed flaw to the praise of God' (Cavaceppi, 255).
Some editions with identical pagination have a variant title page with the date 1555 rather than 1554 as here (1554 is also given in the colophon here). Castiglione's introduction is dated 1549, and taken from the second edition (Bologna, Bartolomeo Bonardo). To find a complete copy of this work, with the final leaf with the printer's device, is unusual.
Provenance: Armorial exlibris of French bibliophile Dr. Armand Ripault, whose library was sold in two parts in January, 1924.
R. M. Cavaceppi, 'Fra Sabba da Castiglione: The Self-fashioning of a Renaissance Knight Hospitaller' (Brown, DPhil. thesis, 2011). D. Thornton, The Scholar in his Study: Ownership and Experience in Renaissance Italy (Yale, 1998).
CNCE 10160. BMSTC (Italian), 157.
