Filippo Strozzi Warlord and Politic of Renaissance - Autograph on Post-Incunable; Liber Vite. Biblia cum tabula alphabetica & cum singulis suis locis - 1501

Important note: From recent studies on handwritten material of Filippo Strozzi, we can confirm and certify that the book is actually the PERSONAL BIBLE of Filippo Strozzi and all notes attributable to him are actually original and handwritten, and comparable with what exists at the Archivio di Stato in Florence, Sez. Medicea del Principato, Filza 333 carta 166. Liber Vite. Biblia cum tabula alphabetica & cum singulis suis locis concordantibus: sacraque illustratione catholice fidei summa cum lucubratione emendata: ac nouiter impressa cum priuilegio: vt in eo: feliciter incipit. Beautiful copy of post incunabula Holy Bible printed in Venice in the “anno gratie millesimo quingetesimo primo”. The volume, one of the earliest Bibles in pocket format, shows a fine and rare sow leather binding with embossing, leather and brass clasps in the shape of a shell, wooden plates and endpaper made medieval manuscripts in lowercase Carolina on parchment. The Bible is enriched by many inscriptions and notes of the various owners, including one Hieronymus, who could be the Girolamo author of the prologues and introductions. This would explain the many footnotes and the numerous manicules that indicate important parts in the text. On page 262 there is a beautiful drawing of the Holy Spirit as a dove radiating rays from its body. On the final endpaper is a note concerning the purchase of the volume for 3 lire “di bona moneta”. Special attention deserves to go to the symbols made by Filippo Strozzi on the endpapers. There are various esoteric symbols linked to Freemasonry, such as the Gordian knot or Solomon's knot, and the star with eight cusps, which overlooks the apostille in which Strozzi writes of the defeat in Montemurlo by Cosimo de' Medici. The Gordian knot represents the union of man with God, as the perfect symmetry of it indicates the ancient hermetic adage which reads "whatever is above is like that which is below". The node is a very important element in the Masonic symbology. The star with eight cusps or polar star is also a clear Masonic symbol. Filippo Strozzi wanted it to depict it at the top of the narration of the event that cost him his imprisonment and life. Being the star with eight spires the symbol which leads directly to the Great Architect of the Universe, it probably represents the capitulation and the decline of one of the most powerful and important figures of the Renaissance. The presence of these symbols proves the fact that modern Freemasonry, despite being officially "born" in 1717, is rooted precisely in the time of Solomon, matured at the time of the medieval guilds, and that although we had lost track of it up to the middle of the 17th century, it continued to animate and join together the most powerful men on the planet even during the Renaissance. In the first note can be read, written in the first person in the vernacular, that the owner will be in Pistoia to “insegnar a figlioli di. . . . Conciglieri di Pistoia”But what makes this book unique is the footnote in the flyleaf of the frontispiece, which bears the words: Addì 1 di Agosto 1537 fu la rotta di Montemurlo data dal Duca Cosmo di Medici. Philippo Strozzi. Important and accurate bibliographic studies we made manifest the congruity of the inscription and the correct time frame, and later studies have led to confirm that note and signature are without any shadow of a doubt written by Strozzi immediately prior to his incarceration at the hands of Cosimo de' Medici, or even in the early days of captivity in the fortress of San Giovanni Battista in Florence, where he died on 18 December 1538. Filippo Strozzi was Commissioner of the city of Pistoia in 1515, and defeated by Cosimo de' Medici in the battle of Montemurlo on 1 St August 1537. Technical sheet: Title: Liber Vite. Biblia cum tabula alphabetica & cum singulis suis locis concordantibus: sacraque illustratione catholice fidei summa cum lucubratione emendata: ac nouiter impressa cum priuilegio: vt in eo: feliciter incipit. A cura di Petrus Angelus de Monte Ulmi, Impressa vero in felici Venetorum civitate, sumptibus et arte Paganini de Paganinis Brixiensis, 1501 pridie nonas Maii. Pages: [10] , 464 [but 463] , [39] cc. : gothic; Condition: Fine Renaissance sow leather binding with embossing on the plats and spine, two-tie closure with brass clasps in the shape of a shell (one missing) Fine wood plates, presumably walnut Parchment endpapers with medieval writings in lowercase Carolina Missing the first two sheets. Numbering for each sheet and not each page Sheet 3 (Tabula alphabetica e Distoriarum Bibliae) , cut of 7 cm with paper curl in the direction of the spine Size: in 8vo (16. 5 x 11 cm) Our antiques bookshop with issue a Certificate of Authenticity COA.