"Ambrosii Calepini Dictionarium octo linguarum": Paris, Nico - Lot 33

"Ambrosii Calepini Dictionarium octo linguarum": Paris, Nicolaum Niuellium, 1588, 2 volumes with inconsequential inversion ("M-Z" on the spine for the 1st and "A-L" for the second). In-folio. Some errors in page numbering, handwritten bookplate, spine ribbed (5), corners dulled, small tears and lack of leather, rings of light wetness on some pages. Although multilingual dictionaries first appeared in the West at the end of the 15th century, it wasn't until the early 16th century that this type of dictionary took off. Our work is fully in line with this trend. First published in 1502 only in Latin, editions subsequently multiplied (Venice alone produced 74 editions, Paris Paris produced 36), gradually increasing to 11 languages. The work we are presenting here is in 8 languages, and its author, Ambrogio Calepio, also known as Calepino, has passed into posterity, since Calepin became, after several changes of meaning over time, a common noun designating a portable notebook (paradoxical considering the size of this work!).