John Donne's 1531 Convivio

Commentary
John Donne's 1531 Convivio
L’amoroso Conuiuio di Dante, con la additione et molti suoi notandi, accuratamente revisto et emendato.Venezia, Sessa, 1531.

112 leaves; 8vo
USTC 808776 (https://www.ustc.ac.uk/editions/808776)

This is the fourth printed edition of Dante’s Convivio. This unfinished work consists of a commentary on Dante’s own canzoni (long lyric poems), one for each book, and an introductory treatise. He planned to comment on fourteen of his canzoni, but he only finished commenting on three of them, and thus we have only four books. The result would have been a vernacular encyclopaedia of philosophy, science, and history. John Donne owned this copy which today is held at the Bodleian. Donne’s motto appears on the upper inside wrapper: “Per Rachel ho seruito, & no[n] per Lea.” (“I have served Rachel, not Leah;” it is taken from Petrarch’s canzone 206, referring to Genesis 29; it implies that he pursued a contemplative rather than active life). The copy is signed in the bottom right hand corner of the title page: “J: Donne.” He left no other annotations or marks on his book. (The title page is signed in 3 places by Thomas Langton, including at the head of the title displacing Donne's motto.)