De Vita Joannis Francisci Commendoni Cardinalis libri quatuor (On the Life of Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Commendone)
Paris: S. Mabre-Cramoisy, 1669. First Edition. Hardcover. Quarto. Collation: á4 é4 í4 ó4 A-3K4, (= 240 leaves). [32], 384, 387-448, [2]pp; engraved printer’s device at title, engraved cartouche and lettrine at dedication, engraved portrait; woodcut head- and tailpieces, lettrines. Text continuous despite gap in pagination. Contemporary vellum boards with exposed thongs, old paper labels with manuscript title and shelf marks at spine; edges tinted red. Discrete library stamp at title; occasional mild embrowning or spotting; corner Nn1 skillfully repaired. A pretty copy, crisp and amply-margined.
First edition of this biography of cardinal and papal nuncio, Giovanni Francesco Commendone (1523-1584) which notably includes a detailed account of Commendone’s 1553 meeting in the Netherlands with Queen Mary Tudor. A brilliant student whose unusual learning was immediately noticed by Julius III, Commedone would serve under several popes as one the Vatican's most important ambassadors. "After successfully performing various papal missions of minor importance, he accompanied Cardinal Legate Dandino to the Netherlands, whence Pope Julius III sent him in 1553 on an important mission to Queen Mary Tudor, who had just succeeded Edward VI on the English throne. He was to treat with the new queen concerning the restoration of the Catholic Faith in England. Accompanied by Penning, a servant and confidant of Cardinal Reginald Pole, Commendone arrived in London on 8 Aug. 1553. Though Mary Tudor was a loyal Catholic, she was surrounded at court by numerous opponents of papal authority, who made it extremely difficult for Commendone to obtain a secret interview with her" (Cath. Enc.). Commendone would later serve as papal legate when Pius IV determined to reopen the Council of Trent in 1560. He was so highly esteemed by the Sacred College that it was widely believed he would be elected pope when Gregory XIII fell dangerously ill; the latter recovered from his malady, though, and went on to outlive Commendone.
The humanist and historian Antonio Maria Graziani (1537-1611) was the protegé of cardinal Commendoni. Upon the death of his mentor Graziani went on to serve as papal secretary to Sixtus V. During the papacy of Clement VIII he was appointed Bishop of Amelia, and served as the Apostolic Nuncio to Venice (1596-98). Graziani was a noted anti-Protestant polemicist; among the manuscripts left behind at his death was the present life of his mentor, written in Latin. A French version, translated by Esprit Fléchier, appeared in 1761.
Engraved portrait signed "[François] Campion sculp." Nearly Fine. Item #49162
References: BM STC French, G684. Cf. Brunet VI, 21671 (French version of 1671). Catholic Encyclopedia (1908) IV: pp.156-7. Not in NUC, nor Osmont (1768). While widely held in European libraries, OCLC locates a single copy in the USA at Georgetown
Full title and imprint: Antonii Mariae Gratiani a Burgos sepulchri Episcopi Amerini De Vita Joannis Francisci Commendoni cardinalis libri quatuor. Parisiis, apud Sebastianum Mabre-Cramoisy, regis typographum, viâ Jacobaeâ sub Ciconiis. M.DC.LXIX. Cum privilegio regis.
Price: $1,500.00