Ambrosii Calepini Bergomatis Ordinis Eremitani Observatium professoris devotissimi vocabularis thesaurus copiosissimus: ex Nicolai Perotti Cornucopie...

Toscolano: Alessando Paganino, 1522. Hardcover. Very Good. 4to, 216x144 mm, early limp vellum with spine title in ink. Title within woodcut interlace border. Two woodcut initials for dedication and letter ‘A’ with scrolling vinework. Double columns of upright italic type. 380 [i. e., 379] (of 380) leaves, with dictionary text complete; lacks the last leaf with note from the author to Egidio da Viterbo and colophon. Front joint partly cracked, front cover warped, recased, endpapers renewed; margins trimmed affecting some headlines, marginal dampstaining and soiling through much of volume, early underscoring and marginalia, scattered repairs, worming in blank lower margin of opening leaves, title reinforced in margins. 19th-century bookplate and signature of Arthur P. Chadbourne.

1522 edition of Calepinus’ Latin dictionary, first appearing in Reggio in 1502, nine years before his death. The first edition was faulty in its deficiency of good words and abundance of unauthorized ones, in its errors of citations and confused meanings. It was reprinted many times during the 16th century; the Aldine press alone produced no fewer than 18 editions from 1542 to 1592. Later editions were considerably enlarged and by the mid 1580s the Latin original had added equivalents in eleven other languages. Calepinus, an Italian monk and philologist, devoted himself to letters and his name became almost synonymous with Latin lexicons during this 16th century. His polyglot dictionary was a helpful source for Latin phrases and figures of speech in philosophy and theology. Calepinus’ dictionary remains one of the most popular humanist dictionaries of the period; tracing words back to their Greek and Latin roots as well as noting the specific passages in the primary source material. This work, as noted in the title, incorporated the contents of the Cornucopia of Nicholas Perotti (1458). Notably, Calepinus includes proper names in his descriptions and details the histories and legends associated with them. Calepinus’ dictionary was also more orthodox than its predecessors in its alphabetical arrangement and additions of more quotations from Christian works. It is noteworthy that the 1752 edition was used in the seminary of Patavia and was intended for theological studies. Well-preserved, important dictionary, chock-full of encyclopedic material for the Renaissance student.