BERNARDINO SCARDEONE  (1482-1574)

Bernardini Scardeonii, Canonici Patavinii. De antiquitate urbis Patavii, & claris civibus Patavinis, libri tres, in quindecim classes distincti. ..Basileae apud Nicolaum Episcopium iuniorem, 1560

§ Small folio; [8] leaves, 437, [1] pp., [11] leaves. Sign: ..a11-8 (last blank), a-z1-6, A-O1-6, P1-8. Large woodcut printer’s device on title page, repeated on last leaf, full-page woodcut on title page verso, depicting Padua, woodcut initials and several reproductions of ancient inscriptions. Contemporary hard vellum. Marginal annotations in an ancient hand, old ownership annotation on title page, few pages faintly browned, unobtrusive wormhole on external margin. Good copy.

First edition. Scardeone, ecclesiastic and historiographer, wrote several works or religious subjects, but he is best remembered for the present book, where he describes the antiquities of Padua as well as the lives of illustrious men from the same city.
“Scardeone described the origins and cultural heritage of Padua, paying considerable attention to its ancient monuments and transcribing many inscriptions from tombs. He also devoted a chapter to the artists of Padua, from the 14th century to his own day, including Andrea Mantegna, Francesco Squarcione, Andrea Riccio and Tiziano Minio. This was the first attempt, outside Florence, to compose a local compendium of artistic biographies. (Grove Art online). “Opera orgogliosamente municipale, il De antiquitate ha la struttura di un dizionario biografico dei padovani illustri, dall’età romana al 1559, cui sono premessi alcuni libri che trattano della storia antica e della geografia del territorio, di monumenti epigrafici insigni (alcuni dei quali raccolti da Scardeone), dell’organizzazione religiosa dello spazio urbano (parrocchie, monasteri e conventi, ospedali, luoghi pii)..” (DBI). Ref: Battilotti,D. Scardeone, Bernardino, in Grove Art online ; Piovan, F. Scardeone, Bernardino, in: DBI, ad vocem.