Epistolae

4to. (36) leaves. A-I4. Modern red morocco, gilt inside dentelles, marbled endpapers.
Adams, A-1203; Edit 16, CNCE 1990; Index Aurelienis, 106.029; G.B. Vermiglioli, Bibliografia storico-perugina, o sia catalogo degli scrittori che hanno illustrato la storia della città, (Perugia, 1823), p. 11.
 
FIRST EDITION of this collection of letters by the ducal secretary at the Sforza court in Milan. The work was edited by Giovanni Maria Vibio and dedicated to Raffaele Vibio (see the dedicarory letter dated from Perugia, January 20, 1519). Antiquari's correspondence is a valuable source for the artistic and literary activities at the Sforza court at the turn of the fifteenth century (cf. C.M. Pyle, Milan and Lombardy in the Renaissance: Essays in Cultural History, Roma, 1997, p. 17).
 
(Liber primus:)
Vibio, Giovanni Maria. Milano (l. A2r)
id. Milano (l. A2r)
Vibio, Orazio. Milano (l. A2v)
Magno, Paolo (l. A3r)
id. (l. A3r)
id. Milano (l. A3v)
id. Milano (l. A4r)
id. (l. A4r)
Bartolino, Mariano (l. A4v)
Magno, Paolo. Milano (l. B1r)
Paolini, Jacopo. Milano (l. B1r)
Maturanzio, Francesco. Milano (l. B1v)
id. (l. B2r)
Ariano, Giulio (l. B2r)
Paolini, Jacopo. Milano (l. B2v)
Maturanzio, Francesco (l. B3v)
id. Milano (l. B3v)
Vibio, Giovanni Maria (l. B4v)
id. Milano (l. C1r)
Paolini, Jacopo. Milano (l. C1v)
Florenzi, Costanzo. Milano (l. C2r)
Maturanzio, Francesco (l. C2v)
id. (l. C2v)
id. (l. C3r)
id. Milano (l. C3v)
id. (l. C4r)
Vibio, Giovanni Maria (l. C4v)
id. (l. D1r)
Ferno, Michele (l. D1v)
Giuliano, A[ntonio] (l. D2r)
Baglione, Francesco (l. D2v)
Centillo (?) (l. D3v)
Vicomercati, Antonio (l. D4v)
 
(Liber secundus:)
Vicomercati, Antonio (l. E1r)
id. (l. E1v)
id. (l. E2r)
Paolini, Jacopo (l. E2r)
id. (l. E2r)
Vibio, Giovanni Maria (l. E2v)
Ferno, Michele (l. E3r)
id. (l. E3v)
Peragallo, Leandro (l. E4v)
Pinzoni, Agostino (l. F1r)
Vibio, Giovanni Maria (l. F1v)
id. (l. F2r)
Paolini, Jacopo (l. F2r)
id. (l. F2r)
Arrivabene, Giovanni Pietro (l. F2v)
[Giuliano], Antonio (l. F3r)
Paolini, Jacopo (l. F3r)
id. 1500 (l. F3v)
id. (l. F4r)
id. (l. F4v)
id. (l. G2r)
Ferno, Michele (l. G2v)
[Riario], Raffaele, Cardinal of San Giorgio (l. G3r)
Paolini, Jacopo (l. G3v)
Paolini, Jacopo (l. G4r)
Paolini, Jacopo (l. G4r)
[Soderini, Francesco], Cardinal Volterrano (l. G4v)
Vicomercati, Giovanni Antonio (l. G4v)
Paolini, Jacopo (l. H1r)
Giuliano, Antonio (l. H1v)
Paolini, Jacopo (l. H1v)
id. (l. H2v)
id. (l. H2v)
id. (l. H3v)
id. (l. H3v)
id. (l. H4v)
id. (l. I1r)
id. (l. I1v)
id. (l. I2r)
id. (l. I2v)
id. (l. I3r)
Vicomercati, Giovanni Antonio (l. I3r)
Maturanzio, Francesco (l. I3v)
 
Jacopo was probably the son of the physician Stefano Antiquari. After studying under Giovanni Antonio Campano, who taught at Perugia from 1452 to 1459, he entered the service of the papal governor of that city, Giovanni Battista Savello, and accompanied him to Bologna when he was transferred there in 1468. In the early 1470s he moved to Milan, possibly on the invitation of Bartolomeo Caldo, secretary to duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza. Antiquari served as secretary to the dukes, with supervision over appointments to ecclesiastical benefices. He chose to remain at Milan even after the French removed Lodovico (il Moro) Sforza in 1500. Antiquari was a protector, adviser, and confidant of the greatest literary figures of his day, most notably Angelo Poliziano. He is mentioned in Erasmus' Ciceronianus as one of the many writers who could not meet the exacting standards of the Ciceronians (cf. E. Bigi, Iacopo Antiquari, in: “Dizionario biografico degli italiani”, III, Roma, 1961, pp. 470-472; and more detailed G.B. Vermiglioli, Memorie di Iacopo Antiquari e degli studi di amena letteratura esercitati a Perugia nel secolo XV, Perugia, 1813, passim).