Dolce, Lodovico
Lettere di diversi eccellentiss. hvomini : raccolte da diversi libri : tra le qvali se ne leggono molte, non piv stampate : con gli argomenti per ciascvna delle materie, di che elle trattano : e nel fine annotationi e tauole delle cose piu notabili a utile de gli studiosi
Venice, Gabriel Giolito de' Ferrari; 1559
Octavo : 4 1/4 by 6 1/3"
488, [16] pages.
Giolito device (phoenix atop flaming orb) on title page;
alternate device (phoenix facing the sun) on colophon page.
Woodcut initials and ornaments throughout.
Bound in full limp vellum, worn.
Text block sound and generally in very good condition, with few stains.
Early ownership inscription in ink in upper margin of title page.
Notation in early hand on rear blank, later notes on last two text pages.
Generally, a clean, sound copy.
Preserved in custom-made cloth clamshell box with title label on spine.

In the context of Renaissance society, publishing a well-crafted letter was one more way for courtiers and notables to broadcast their refinement, like wearing the clothes we see in Renaissance portraiture.
Private letters were indeed public matter, enthusiastically shared and discussed.
Some letters became famous.
Paolo Manuzio issued collections of letters, and Giolito followed.
Giolito had his resident scholar, Lodovico Dolce, create a "greatest hits" volume of letters that had appeared in print in a wide variety of sources. Dolce set out to collect "the most beautiful letters and the ones of greatest value." First published in 1554, the collection became a model for Italian prose, as well as a storehouse of stories about 16th-century celebrities. The book was produced in small quantity and quickly sold out. A second edition was necessary, and Dolce prepared it with a completely new dedication, and with notable changes in content from the 1554 edition, including the addition of several letters by Giulia da Ponte. Of the two editions, Bongi writes "both are very uncommon, and highly sought by collectors. Since there are notable differences between the two, with each containing letters that are missing in the other, both would be worthy of acquisition by a true devotee." (Bongi I, 442).

Lodovico Dolce (1508/10–1568) was an Italian man of letters and theorist of painting. He was a broadly based Venetian humanist and prolific author, translator, and editor; he is now mostly remembered for his Dialogue on Painting or L'Aretino (1557),[1] and for his involvement in artistic controversies of the day. He was a friend of Titian's, and often acted as in effect his public relations man.



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