De Roma triumphante libri decem, priscorum scriptorum lectoribus utilissimi, ad totiusque Romanae antiquitatis cognitionem pernecessa rii. Romae instauratae libri III. Italia illustrata. Historiarum ab inclinato Rom. imperio Decades III. Omnia multo quam ante castigatiora.

Basel, Froben, 1531. First part only. Folio. (33,1x22,6cm). [xii],422,[1 printer's mark] pp. Later old-style basane, blind-stamped boards, spine with raised bands. (new paste-downs loose; title-page strengthened at hinge; some moulding; first pp. slightly deteriorated in lower corner; small hole in p. 159: a few letters text loss; strong paper copy) Lacking the second part: Decades. Provenance: ex libris of P.A.H. Muschamp; armorial stamp of the Sewell family on wooden board. Biondo "virtually founded the field of archaeology" with these works. Our copy contains: De Roma instaurata (reconstruction of ancient Roman topography); De Roma triumphante (a discussion of pagan Rome as a model for new reform in contemporary institutions); De Gestis Venetorum; and De Italia illustrata (geography and history of 18 Italian provinces). . Adams B 2067 (including the Decades) "The Italia illustrata has naturally been given more attention than the other, for in it Biondo achieved a new and fruitful combination of geography and history, of antiquities and contemporary observation . they stimulated a host of other topographers and antiquaries who were better equipped." (Renaissance Essays 1951, p.40; see also: A new sense of the past: the scholarship of Biondo Flavio (1392-1463).…