296. Mellini, Domenico: Vita di Filippo Scolari...

... volgarmente chiamato Pippo Spano: Scritta da ~.
In Fiorenza, (1570.) Appresso Giorgio Marescotti. 71+(1)p. With printer’s device on the last page.
The first edition of the biography of Pippo of Ozora. Filippo Scolari, who came from an impoverished Florentine noble family, arrived in Hungary as an employee of a banking house. Soon he entered the service of King Sigismund, becoming one of his indispensable men. He was the king’s political advisor and military leader, playing a central role in carrying out financial and military reforms. As ispán of Temes he was responsible for the construction of the southern border fortress line, including the building of Temesvár, Orsova, and Nándorfehérvár. János Hunyadi began his military career under him. The Florentines were clearly fascinated by their compatriot who had achieved such a brilliant career. His first biographer, Jacopo di Poggio, already in the 15th century, showed surprising familiarity with Hungarian conditions. Mellini based his work on Poggio’s text, supplementing it with archival sources from Florence. A revised edition appeared in 1606 (a copy of which was in the collection of Count Sándor Apponyi), including excerpts from M. Rinaldo delli Albizi’s manuscript Giornale & Diario, owned by Cosimo de’ Medici, to which Mellini had access. Albizi was sent as an envoy to Emperor Sigismund in 1425, held talks with him and Pipo in Tata, and returned to Italy via Székesfehérvár, Ozora, and Pipo’s other estates. His account of this remarkable journey is included in the manuscript. This biography of Pippo of Ozora offers a unique perspective on the events of Hungary in Sigismund’s time. (Hungarian translation of the text published in: Ozorai Pipo emlékezete. Ed. Ferenc Vadas. Múzeumi Füzetek, Szekszárd, 1987. pp. 25–52.)
Signed, red leather, with black panel on spine and red title. The front cover decorated with a black leather inlay of a helmeted coat of arms, the back repeating the “spade”-shaped heraldic motif. In hardpaper case.
Dimensions: 185 × 125 mm.
EDIT CNCE 48381.; BNH Cat M 586.
 
Starting price: 300 000,-