SENECA Lucius Annaeus De Benefizii. Tradotto in volgar Fiorentino da M. Benedett Varchi. Di nuovo ristampato con la vita dell’autore.

EDIT16, CNCE 28440 ; BM, Italien, 621 ; Graesse, VI, 356 ; F. Le Bars, « Les Reliures de Henri III : essai de typologie », dans l’ouvrage collectif Henri III mécène des arts, des sciences et des lettres (Presses de l’Université Paris-Sorbonne, 2006).

The first complete Italian edition. It contains, for the first time, the author’s biography, written in Latin by Xicone Polentone and translated into Florentine by Giovanni di Tante. A magnificent bound copy commissioned for the King of France, Henry III.

Seneca’s Benefizii, or On Favours, is a treatise divided into seven books in which the Roman philosopher offers a Stoic analysis of the ethical concepts of gratitude, ingratitude and favour, and sets out numerous suggestions on how to bestow, receive and repay favours.

Henri III’s copy 

King of France from 1574 to 1589, Henry III was a cultured prince and bibliophile, carrying on the Valois tradition of book collecting. He was the recipient of numerous works dedicated or presented to him, bearing his coat of arms or emblems, often in richly bound editions. He was also responsible for the first commissions for book bindings produced for the Order of the Holy Spirit, which he founded in December 1578.

This copy features a charming hazelnut-coloured morocco leather binding, almost certainly produced by the workshop of Nicolas Eve, the King’s bookbinder from 1578 to 1579 (see Fabienne Le Bars, reliures.bnf, for an example of an orange morocco leather binding with fleurs-de-lis). Nicolas Eve succeeded Claude de Picques and became the fourth holder of the office of ‘royal bookbinder’. He worked primarily for Henry III.

“Henri III aimait beaucoup les livres, comme tous les Valois, et fit travailler pour lui Nicolas et Clovis Eve” (OHR).

At the court of Henry III, Seneca was read : “Mais précisément en Pologne, Henri avait resserré son amitié avec Guy Faur de Pibrac, son chancelier là-bas, qui allait, philologue lui-même, l’initier à la philosophie du moraliste latin [Sénèque]. … Depuis l’avènement d’Henri, Monsieur de Pibrac était devenu l’un des grands sénécisants du royaume et il paraît que la perte de son exemplaire personnel de Sénèque, annoté patiemment de sa main, fut grande et irréparable. […] En 1583, le seigneur Pressac offre à Henri du Sénèque à son tour, et, lui aussi, en français.” (Sénèque, lecture royale sous le dernier Valois François Préchac. In: Bulletin de l’Association Guillaume Budé : Lettres d’humanité, n°9, mars 1950, pages 185-205).

Henri III, King of France (1551-1589), was the recipient of many presentation copies, often richly decorated with his coat of arms or emblems. He also commissioned the first bindings for the Order of the Holy Spirit, of which he was the founder, in December 1578. He also had a personal library, for which he favoured bindings with fleur-de-lys and foliate spandrels, in addition to simple bindings. 

Henri III (1551-1589), son of Henri II and Catherine de Médicis, was elected King of Poland in 1573 and crowned King of France in 1573. The last king of the Valois dynasty, he was assassinated in 1589.

Small stains on the binding, oxidised silver decoration.

Other provenance: Nicolas Rémy Frizon de Blamont, President of the Parliament (ex-libris) – A. Breton (old signature on the flyleaf and initials on the title page).