Li felicissimi parti del principe christiano
By: descritti et figurati da Filippo Bocchi.
Contributors: Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts Collection (Library of Congress)
Published: 1587
Language: ita
Number of pages: 21
Subjects: Education of princes -- Early works to 1800.; Kings and rulers -- Duties -- Early works to 1800.; Political science -- Early works to 1800.; Manuscripts, Italian -- Washington (D.C.)
Notes: Former owners: Vincenzo I Gonzaga? -- ca. 1840, Ludovico Brancadoro, of Fermo (ex libris attached to leaf 1a) -- Purchased from H.P. Kraus, Inc. and presented to the Library of Congress as a gift by Madison Council in October 1997.
Text in Italian; captions and biblical quotations included in each illustration are in Latin.
Ms. (holograph?)
An emblem book made to win for the author the favor of Vincenzo I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua from 1587 to 1612; in addition to preliminary matter (symbolic frontispiece) it contains, on rectos, 17 full-page symbolic representations of a prince's virtues (always built around the image of an eagle), with interpretive text on opposite versos.
Title and author statement on leaf 2a; there also the Gonzaga coat of arms.
On leaf 1a: D O M (i.e. Deo optimo maximo); followed by  Ps. 71,17 (Vulgate 70,17) in Latin: Deus docuisti me a iuventute mea ... tua; on verso, what may be a symbolic summation of the book, with monograms.
"Al serenissimo signor D. Vince[n]zo Gonzaga, duca di Mantova et Monfer[ra]to" (dedicatory letter): leaves 2b-3a. Primary text begins (3b): Sopra il Titolo et dell' intention dell Aut[ho]re. Si come l'Aquila ...; text ends, leaf 21b: ... tempo ne comodo da farla rescriuere, et dissegnare.
Origin: Written probably in Mantua, mostly (the Italian versos of leaves 5-21) by one (professional?) scribe, perhaps identical with the author and artist.
Leaf size: 265-268 x ca. 185 mm, with 23-26 lines on the text pages; all pages are framed in decorative borders in the ink of the script; the borders are typically ca. 20 mm wide, measuring on the outside 220 x 150-160 mm.
Script: calligraphic, chiefly late post-humanistic cursive; on versos of leaves 5-21, it is  characterized by clubbed ascenders, while 2b, 3a, 4b, and the introductory 3v-4a, also cursive and professional-looking, lack this feature. The Latin 1a, the title proper on 2a, and the emblem captions (on scrolls within the illustrations) are in capital letters, as are some of the biblical quotations at bottom of the illustrations.
Thick parchment of southern preparation.
Contemporary binding, rebacked; original covers smooth red goatskin, gold-tooled with the Gonzaga arms on both covers.