De oraculis et divinationibus antiquorum. Auctore Ioan. Antonio Venerio patricio veneto

“THE FIRST TREATISE DEVOTED SOLELY TO THE ORACLES” (A. OSSA-RICHARDSON)
4to (203x142 mm). 62, [2] pp. Collation: [A]4 B-H4 (ll. [A2] verso and H4 are blank). With woodcut printer's device on the title-page (a pine tree enclosed within an elaborate woodcut border). Woodcut ornamental initials. Notice to the reader at leaf A2 recto. Text printed in Latin, with roman and italic type and printed marginalia. Modern marbled cardboard. Slight staining at the beginning of the volume, on leaf A2 verso tear repaired with no loss, tiny hole not affecting the text on leaf A4. A good, genuine copy.
First edition of this work that is considered as “the first treatise devoted solely to the oracles, discussing the subject from a philosophical perspective and amassing the relevant ancient and medieval authorities” (A. Ossa-Richardson, The Devil's Tabernacle, Princeton, 2013, p. 157).
Antonio Pinelli (1570-1631) was a famous 17th printer in Venice. From 1600, Antonio Pinelli established a printing press near the church of Santa Maria Formosa in Venice and, in 1617, Pinelli was named by the Republic “Stampatore Ducale”, i.e. official printer of the Serenissima, responsible for publishing all officially issued documents including regulations, statutes, and decrees dealing with taxations, criminal law, etc. The Pinelli dynasty was active for the Venetian Republic until its fall in 1797.
Italian Union Catalogue, LO1E\016936; M. Pinelli, Bibliotheca Pinelliana: a catalogue of the magnificent and celebrated library of Maffei Pinelli, London, 1789, p. 400, no. 10060; E. Layton, The sixteenth century Greek book in Italy, Venice, 1994, pp. 429-432; M. Palumbo, The book-treasures of the far-famed Pinelli Collection: The Bibliotheca Pinelliana and its Catalogue, from Venice to London, PRPHBooks, 2021.