From Alchemist to Zoccolari
La Piazza Universale di Tutte le Professioni del Mondo, Nuovamente ristampata, & posta in luce da Thomaso Grazoni da Bagnacaullo. Con l'Aggionta d'alcune bellissime Annotationi a Discorso per Discorso.
In Venetia: Appresso Gio. Battista Somasco, 1589.
Price: $1,750.00
About the item
Third edition. Pp. [40], 958. 1 vols. 4to. From Alchemist to Zoccolari. Full contemporary vellum. Some soiling of vellum. Insect damage to terminal leaf affecting header and four words in top two lines of text, small marginal repair at upper margin of Aaa2, else a clean sound copy. Kress Library 179; Gamba III,1415; Brunet II,1497 (not recording this edition); Olschki, 9905 Italy; Graesse III, 32.
Item #55802
First published in 1585, the Piazza Universale is a compendium of the professions, giving descriptive and historical references for contemporary occupations ranging from Assassini, Puttanieri, Ruffiani, Usurari, and Villani to Apiculturist, Clog-Maker, Monk, Inquisitor, Surgeon, Professor, and Officers of the Customs and Excise. The author, Thomaso Garzoni, born Ottaviano Garzoni, studied law in Ferrara and logic at Sienna before writing the Piazza Universale, the work for which he is best known. He died in 1589, the year of this edition's publication.
Page 739 of this edition contains the first known mention of Commedia dell'Arte, naming the companies in various cities.
