De Principatibus Italiae, Latin Text from 1631 Second Edition. 

Size: 4 1/2 X 2 1/2 X 2 in. 

This book is titled De Principatibus Italiae, Tractautus Vary, a rare early seventeenth century work featuring a collection of important essays and treatises by scholars Joannes de Laet and Thomas Segethus. The first edition by Elzevir was published in 1628 and this is the second edition, published in 1631. The book is written entirely in Latin, and the title page translated means Treatise on the Principalities of Italy, the book has vellum covers with “Italiae” on the spine, blank endpapers, the engraved title page says “Editio Secunda Priore Longe Auctior”, which means The Second Edition is Much Larger than the Previous One, and the title page also says “Lugd. Bat. Ex officina Elzeuiriana, which means the book was published in Lugdunum Batavorum (Leiden)   by Elzeveriana, and 1631 is found in medieval and Roman numerals at the bottom of the title page. The Dedicatio - the Dedication - is four pages long, followed by commentaries by Thoma  Segetho  - Thomas Segethus - from pages 7 to 49, then Notae - Notes on the Commentaries - from pages 50 to 89, and a total of sixteen chapters altogether about the various kingdoms and duchies throughout Italy. These include Naples (Neapolitano), Sicily (Siciliae), and Genoa among others, and there is commentary about the judgment of Cardinal Ossati, a papal figure who was known for his diplomatic skills during the reign of Henry IV of France. There are 371 pages of text, followed by a Catalog of Authors (Catalogus Authorum) on 371 and 372, an eight-page Index, and one page at the rear titled Summa Privilegii (The Highest Privilege) from 1626, and the book was written entirely in Latin, which was common for scholarly works of the day. There’s also a chart about the coat of arms on various helmets from the period - a chart of stemma galeatiorum - on pages 150 and 161. Joannes de Laet (1581 - 1649), or Johannes de Laet, was born in Antwerp, Belgium, and when Antwerp fell to the Spanish in 1584, his family fled to the Netherlands and settled in Amsterdam, and eventually he settled in Leiden, where he became a geographer and director of the Dutch West Indies Company, which was created to expand Dutch commerce around the world. Thomas Segetho (circa 1569 to 1627), also known as Thomas Seget and Thoma Segetho in Italian, was a Scottish poet and pupil of Galileo. Segetho attended college in Belgium, converted from Calvinism to Catholicism, then travelled to Italy, where he met Galileo, and he collaborated with de Laet to complete work on this book because Segetho was known for his astute observations on Italian government and politics. The book measures 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches wide, and this small size is a distinctive feature of many books published by Elzevir. The binding is tight and the pages are all there, with light soiling on the vellum, faint brown spots in the text here and there, and darker ones on pages 139 and 333. A first edition from 1628 goes for $300 to $1030 on the rare book website we use and second editions from 1631 go for $200 to nearly $4200, and we’re starting the bidding low to get the bids going.