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4°, full crimson morocco by Sansorski & Sutcliffe, London (mid-twentieth century?), spine gilt with raised bands in six compartments, short author-title lettered gilt in second compartment from head, place and date lettered gilt at foot, covers triple ruled gilt, with gilt tooling at corners of inner rule. Edges with double gilt rule. Inner dentelles gilt. All text block edges gilt. In a slipcase of marbled boards. Woodcut arms of the dedicatee, D. Joeronymo de Castro, on title page. Numerous woodcut and typographical headpieces, tailpieces and initials. Large woodcut printer's mark on verso of final preliminary leaf, repeated on leaf 162 verso. Overall in fine condition. Armorial bookplate of Walter Corrêa de Sá e Benevides. (4), 186 [i.e., 184], (3) ll. [ ]4, A-Z8, 3. Lacks the final blank leaf 4. Error in foliation.: skips from 176 to 179. *** FIRST EDITION, very rare, of the collected works of Sá de Miranda. The second edition of 1614 is almost as rare. There are many subsequent editions. This first edition contains the comedy "Estrangeiros" which was omitted in the second. Sá de Miranda is described by Bell as "the champion of humanism in Portugal" and "the most famous of all the Portuguese poets with the exception of Camões and Gil Vicente" (Portuguese Literature p. 139). Ticknor points out that he wrote in both Castilian and Portuguese, so that "while, on all accounts he is placed among the four or five principal poets in his own country, he occupies a position of enviable distinction among those of the prouder nation that soon became, for a time, its master" (History of Spanish Literature III, 11-12). Sá de Miranda was the first Portuguese to write in Italian hendecasyllabics rather than the octosyllabic redondilhas, and "none, perhaps, since his time has appeared in them with more grace and power" (Ticknor II, 11). He did not find it an easy task, however: Bell describes him "hammering his lines, altering, erasing, compressing in a divine discontent. He had a lofty conception of the poet's art-to express the noblest sentiment in the best and fewest words ." (Bell, p. 143).A native of Coimbra, Sá de Miranda (ca. 1485-1558) studied at the University of Lisbon and soon earned a reputation as a scholar and lawyer. In 1521 he departed on a five-year visit to Italy, where he met many of the Italian humanists and became thoroughly familiar with Italian literature. Upon his return he took up residence at the court of D. João III, but retired in 1532 to the Quinta da Tapada on the Neiva in Minho, where he produced much of his best work.Provenance: Walter Corrêa de Sá e Benevides (1908-1981), distinguished Brazilian physician specializing in otorhinolaryngology. Elected a member of the Brazilian National Academy of Medicine in 1977, succeeding Eduardo Augusto de Caldas Brito in Chair 73, of which Hilário de Gouveia is patron, he had dozens of articles and books published. *** Pina Martins, Sá de Miranda e a cultura do Renascimento 19/6. Anselmo 764. King Manuel 294. Innocêncio III, 53 (without collation); IX, 371 (also without collation). Pinto de Mattos, p. 504 (calling for [3], 184 ll.). Garcia Peres pp. 501-8. Barbosa Machado II, 251-5. Nicolau Antonio I, 471: mentions an edition of 1605, almost certainly a ghost. British Museum, Pre-1601 Portuguese STC, p. 18. HSA p. 486 (= Jerez p. 93). Ticknor Catalogue p. 315. Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, Catálogo dos impressos de tipografia portuguesa do século XVI, 500. Coimbra, Catálogo dos reservados 1612. Palha 796. Gubian 647. Azevedo-Samodães 2932: with reproduction of title page and printer's mark. Avila Perez 6829. Bell, Portuguese Literature pp. 139-45. Not in Salvá or Heredia. Porbase locates a single copy, in the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal. Jisc locates two copies: Oxford University and National Library of Scotland. KVK (51 databases searched) locates only the copies cited by Porbase, and the Biblioteca Nacional de España.
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