In 1469 he was in Rome, and perhaps as early as that year he published some books, having set up a printing press in his own home; the first volumes certainly dated, however, are from the following year. About fifty publications are recorded under the name De Lignamine (the Latinized form by which La L. was known), not all of them identified, covering the years 1470–76 and 1481. It seems certain that his activity was that of an editor rather than a printer: in some pamphlets bearing his name the types of Johann Han, Georg the Teuton, and others have been recognized. Contrary to tradition, which makes him a professor of medicine at the University of Perugia and then physician to Sixtus IV, it is certain that this pope held him in high regard and showered him with many benefits, including permission to use the surname and coat of arms of the Della Rovere—a privilege also enjoyed by La L.’s son, Antonio, archbishop of Messina.
He wrote: *Incliti Ferdinandi regis vita et laudes* (1472), a continuation (from 1316 to 1469) of the *Cronica Summorum Pontificum* attributed to Riccobaldo da Ferrara (1474), sometimes ascribed to the Dominican Filippo de Lignamine, a relative of his; a study on the sect of the Flagellants and another on illustrious women, both lost, of which only the titles and precise dates survive. He also composed prefaces, dedications, and Latin verses, revealing himself as a humanist of refined taste.