PATRIZI (Francesco) - Lot 578

PATRIZI (Francesco) Francisci Patricii Senensis pontificis Caietani de in stituitione Reipub. libri novem historiarum sententiarumque varietate Paris, Galliotum Pratensem, 1534. In folio: 14f. (index), 131f. (pagination errors); woodcut initials and woodcut plate. Handwritten notes in margins. Title in red and black. Contemporary brown calf, spine ribbed, headbands foxed, cold geometric frieze framing the boards, epidermis and rubbing, leather missing from corners and edges, red edges. Francesco Patrizi was a Venetian philosopher and scholar, and one of the leading advocates of Platonism against the dominant Aristotelianism of the time. Patrizi's work, characteristic of Renaissance humanism, covers philosophy as well as history, rhetoric, the arts, literature and military art. Patrizi's theory of the universe is that the light that emanated from God spread throughout space and is the reason for all development. This cosmic theory is a curious combination of materialism and idealism. Provenance: Handwritten bookplate Andreas ab exea lut. Doc. Valen.