Trattati overo discorsi [.] sopra gli ottimi reggimenti delle republiche antiche et moderne.

4to. (4), 86, (1) ff. With small woodcut device on title, several woodcut initials and head-pieces and fine printer's device to verso of last leaf. Contemporary limp vellum. First edition. A treatise on political theory exposing liberal if not democratic principles for a republican city government, with much attention devoted to public administration, economic policy, the advancement of agricultural production, etc. Cavalcanti (1503-62), a Florentine scholar, historian and diplomat, is best known for his compendium of classical rhetoric (Retorica, 1559) in which he emphasized its practical rather than its literary meaning. After the assassination of Alessandro de' Medici in 1537 he left Florence and lived in Ferrara and Rome, serving as a diplomat for Pope Paul III, and died in Padua. This treatise was posthumously published by Sebastiano Erizo and reprinted several times, with at least three editions in the 19th century. - Handwritten ownership of Andrea da Verrazzano on flyleaf. Stitching slightly defective, wanting the final part (14 leaves). Small waterstain in upper and lower part of inner margin. A nice copy. - Edit 16, CNCE 10438. Adams C 1178. BM-STC Italian 162.