STEFONIO (Bernardino). Crispus tragoedia. Mussiponti [Pont-à-Mousson]: Melchior Bernard, 1602. - In-24, 123 x 75 : 185 pp, (1 f.). Brown morocco, boards decorated with a rich grotesque decoration with small irons, composed in the centre of a medallion of havana morocco decorated with a gilt motif, surrounded by an iron with facing griffin heads whose bodies meet to form an anvil-shaped motif in the centre, foliage motifs, caryatids at the corners and in the centre, as well as four monkeys, all gilt and framed with gilt fillets with scroll plates in between, ornate spine, gilt and chased edges (period binding). Second edition of this Latin tragedy first published in Rome in 1601. It was composed by Bernardino Stefonio (1560-1620), Italian playwright and Jesuit, professor of eloquence at the Collegio Romano. Rare impression made by Melchior Bernard (15..-1623), printer of the university of Pont-à-Mousson and of the Duke of Lorraine. A precious copy in a contemporary Roman binding, attributed to the Soresini workshop, whose activity extended from 1585 to the 1630's. It was founded by Francesco, taken over by his son Prospero and then by his grandson Baldassare. It is to the latter, active from 1590 to 1634, that the binding can be attributed. The Bibliotheca Braidense in Milan has a binding by this workshop on a copy of Marc-Antoine Muret's Orationes, Lyon edition of 1586, decorated with the same iron with griffin heads and the same scroll plates in the frame. This binding is reproduced in the catalogue of the exhibition Arte della legatura a Brera (Milan, 2002, no. 62). Furthermore, the iron found on the spine of our binding is the same as that found on papal bindings made precisely during the period of the Soresinis' activity. It was used as a border ornament in two bindings of registers of the Depositeria Generale (treasury of the Apostolic Chamber, the financial organ of the Roman Curia) dating respectively from 1576 and 1627 and reproduced under numbers 5 and 29 in the catalogue Legatura romana barocca, 1565-1700. It is also found on the back of the binding covering the 1585 Venetian edition of Cicero's Orations, sold by Christie's on 15 December 2015 (Burrus collection no. 43), whose workshop is formally identified as that of the Soresini. A copy with an unfortunately damaged binding. The hinge of the first plate is cracked, the plate is consequently partly unbound. The headpieces are missing, two corners are dull, the ties are missing and only the former location is visible. First white endpapers are missing. Small tear on the bottom of the title.