[Kalilah wa-Dimnah - Italian]. Del governo de' regni. Sotto morali esempi di animali ragionanti tra loro. Ferrara, Domenico Mammarelli, 1583.

8vo (105 x 159 mm). (3), 69 (but: 68), (1) ff. With two different woodcut devices to title-page and colophon; several pretty woodcut initials. Contemporary Italian carta rustica binding. Rare first Italian edition of these Fables of Bidpai. Reprinted in 1610 and again in 1872. First translated from the Pehlevi version into Arabic under the title "Kalilah wa-dimnah" by Ibn al-Muqaffa and subsequently into Greek by Simeon Seth, whose version is known under the title of "Stephanites kai Ichnelates". From this version the present Italian one is derived. - The ancient Sanskrit Panchatantra fables, a classic of the genre, are thought to have been assembled ca. 200 BC out of stories from an even older oral tradition. The stories became known in Europe through Hebrew translations of Arabic versions under the name Bidpai. Featuring animals as a mirror for human behaviour, the fables were intended to educate people, especially young rulers. - Binding a little stained. Interior shows occasional browning and very minor staining; old ink annotations to pastedown and flyleaf. An appealing copy. Chauvin II, p. 24, no. 38A. BM-STC Italian 309. Edit 16, CNCE 35122. OCLC 22606298. Not in Adams.