Cyprium bellum inter Venetos et Selymum Turcarum Imperatorem gestum libris tribus, summa cura & diligentia descriptum: et iam primùm in lucem editum. [Sammelband]

[16] + [56] (index) + 283 + [1] p.

First Latin edition. A detailed and carefully compiled account, in three books, of the Venetian campaigns of the year 1565 against Sultan Selim for the control of Cyprus. Bizzarri first worked and lived in Venice; from there, – having become a supporter of the Reformation, – he went to England. There, he became one of the trusted associates of William Cecil, the all-knowing political and financial advisor to Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). In 1570, he set out on a foreign journey, partly to have his own works published in print and partly to gather information abroad for the English royal court. Although his exact destinations are almost impossible to identify, one of his letters addressed to William Cecil reveals that, naturally, he was primarily interested in the expansion of the Ottoman Empire between 1550 and 1570.

Brunet 25469. USTC 710473

Bound with: 

Bizarus, Petrus: Pannonicum bellum, sub Maximiliano II. Rom. et Solymano Turcar. Imperatoribus gestum: cumque Arcis Sigethi expugnatione, iampridem magna cura et studio, descriptum, per - -. 

[Basileae, 1572]. [Sebastian Henricpetri]. [16] + [54] (index) + 322 + [2] p. + 1 t. (printer’s mark).

This is the first Latin edition of Pietro Bizzarri’s account of the Turkish war in Hungary from 1540 to 1547. The work was originally published in Italian in Lyons in 1568–1569, and Bizzarri himself translated it into Latin to reach a wider audience. The dedication, addressed to the thirteen-year-old August of Saxony, son of Prince Elector August, is dated January 1573 and offers the young prince a brief overview of the history of writing and historiography. The main text on the Turkish war in Hungary (pp. 1–165) is followed by an account of the unrest in the Netherlands in 1566 and other contemporary European events (pp. 166–332).

Apponyi I/455. USTC 710474.

Geuffroy, Antoine: Aulae turcicae, othomannicique imperii, descriptio, qua turcarum palatina officia, mores: secte item Mahometice, imperiorumque ex ea prodeuntium status, luculenter enarrantur: in latinam linguam conversa, per Wilhelmum Godelevaeum. his commode accesserunt: belli Cyprii inter Venetos, & Zelymum turcarum imp. novissime gesti, libri III Item, Bellum pannonicum.: Una cum epitome insigniorum, atque recentiorum Europae historiarum.: authore Petro Bizaro.

[Basileae, 1573]. [Sebastian Henricpetri]. 56 + 57 (index) + 340 + [1] p.

Latin edition of Geuffroy’s original French work, Estat de la court du grant Turc, first published in 1542. One of the earliest Western European descriptions of the Ottoman imperial court. The text provides a structured account of Ottoman political organization, court ceremonial, and administration at a time when the empire was at the height of its power under Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. Written for a European audience, it reflects both a desire to understand Ottoman governance and the anxieties it provoked. Johann Georg Meusel notes that Geuffroy was a Knight of St John who fought against the Turks, a background that is crucial for interpreting the work.

Although the title page of the last work indicates that these three works are a publisher’s sammelband, usually they were sold separately. The works were produced in Heinrich Petri's famous printshop in Basel with the support of Bizzarri.

Atabey 491, 110, 111; Gollner 1620, 1613, 1611; USTC 614761.

In contemporary German pigskin binding, raised bands, and blind stamped covers with floral and figural ornamentation, strips are missing. Occasional contemporary Latin notes in the text. Otherwise, a good, clean copy. Prov.: Royal Library, Munich (duplicate stamp). Borda Lajos 

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