![[COLONNA, Francesco (1433-1527).] Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, in Italian. Venice: Aldus Manutius for Leonardus Crassus, December 1499.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2014/CKS/2014_CKS_01584_0213_001(colonna_francesco_hypnerotomachia_poliphili_in_italian_venice_aldus_ma022850).jpg?w=1)
![[COLONNA, Francesco (1433-1527).] Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, in Italian. Venice: Aldus Manutius for Leonardus Crassus, December 1499.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2014/CKS/2014_CKS_01584_0213_002(colonna_francesco_hypnerotomachia_poliphili_in_italian_venice_aldus_ma022918).jpg?w=1)
![[COLONNA, Francesco (1433-1527).] Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, in Italian. Venice: Aldus Manutius for Leonardus Crassus, December 1499.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2014/CKS/2014_CKS_01584_0213_000(colonna_francesco_hypnerotomachia_poliphili_in_italian_venice_aldus_ma044020).jpg?w=1)
Details
[COLONNA, Francesco (1433-1527).] Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, in Italian. Venice: Aldus Manutius for Leonardus Crassus, December 1499.
Super-chancery 2° (310 x 208mm). Collation: p4 a-y8 z10 A-E8 F4 (p1 title, p1v dedicatory letter by Crasso to Guido, Duke of Urbino, p2r poem to Crasso by Giovanni Battista Scita, p3 synopses in verse and prose, p4v verses by Andrea Maro of Brescia, a1r second title, a2r book I, A1r book II, F3r colophon, F3v epitaphs, F4r errata, F4v blank). 234 leaves. 39 lines. Type: 115R (evolved from 2:114), 7:114Greek, 10:82R, 9:84Greek, square Hebrew, letters AM stamped in by hand as correction in line 5 of second title (a1r) as GW Anm. 2. 172 woodcuts attributed to the Paduan miniaturist Benedetto Bordon, of which 11 are full-page [the Priapus cut untouched], 39 woodcut initials form an acrostic spelling the name Franciscus Columna. (Leaves q2-5 rehinged [?possibly supplied] and with a small repair in one corner touching the border of one illustration, occasional small marginal repair, occasional light soiling.) Olive morocco gilt-tooled to a Grolieresque design by Bedford, c.1857, signed on the front turn-in, sides lettered at centre, edges gilt and gauffered, slipcase. Provenance: Dr. Wilhelm August Ackermann (1793-1865, art historian and librarian; his stamp, 'Dr. WA Pr.' on the title; his sale, Rudolph Weigel, Dresden, 1853) -- Sir Charles Dutton Price (1800-1872, 2nd Baronet Price of Trengwaiton; ALS tipped-in from Bedford, dated 8 February 1857, discussing the binding commission) -- Henry Hope Edwardes (1829-1900, 10th Baronet Edwardes; bookplate; sale, Christie's, 20-23 May 1901, lot 147, £122 to Ellis for:) -- S.A. Thompson Yates (bookplate).
FIRST EDITION OF THE MOST CELEBRATED ILLUSTRATED PRINTED BOOK OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE, FINELY BOUND BY BEDFORD IN A GROLIER-STYLE BINDING. The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili epitomizes the Aldine mastery of type, illustration, design and execution. The identity of the artist responsible for the renowned woodcuts has long been debated, but the Paduan miniaturist Benedetto Bordon, active primarily in Venice, is now widely considered their author. The work tells the tale of Polifilo in search of his lost love, Polia. His journey takes him through a fantastic dream-world of pyramids and obelisks, classical gardens, ruined temples and bacchanalian festivals, before finding her and gaining ultimate enlightenment at the temple of Venus. Interpretations of the intricate text are many; a recent investigation into explicative near-contemporary annotations written into a copy at Modena shows that it served as a sort of humanist encyclopedia (D. Stichel, 'Reading the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili in the Cinquecento, marginal notes in a copy at Modena,' Aldus Manutius and Renaissance Culture, Essays in memory of Franklin D. Murphy, Florence: 1998). HC *5501; GW 7223; BMC V, 561 (IB. 24499-24502); CIBN C-523; IGI 3062; BSB-Ink. C-471; Bod-Inc. C-391; Renouard Alde, 21.5; Sander 2056; Essling 1198; Nixon 94; Austin 141; Goff C-767.
Super-chancery 2° (310 x 208mm). Collation: p4 a-y8 z10 A-E8 F4 (p1 title, p1v dedicatory letter by Crasso to Guido, Duke of Urbino, p2r poem to Crasso by Giovanni Battista Scita, p3 synopses in verse and prose, p4v verses by Andrea Maro of Brescia, a1r second title, a2r book I, A1r book II, F3r colophon, F3v epitaphs, F4r errata, F4v blank). 234 leaves. 39 lines. Type: 115R (evolved from 2:114), 7:114Greek, 10:82R, 9:84Greek, square Hebrew, letters AM stamped in by hand as correction in line 5 of second title (a1r) as GW Anm. 2. 172 woodcuts attributed to the Paduan miniaturist Benedetto Bordon, of which 11 are full-page [the Priapus cut untouched], 39 woodcut initials form an acrostic spelling the name Franciscus Columna. (Leaves q2-5 rehinged [?possibly supplied] and with a small repair in one corner touching the border of one illustration, occasional small marginal repair, occasional light soiling.) Olive morocco gilt-tooled to a Grolieresque design by Bedford, c.1857, signed on the front turn-in, sides lettered at centre, edges gilt and gauffered, slipcase. Provenance: Dr. Wilhelm August Ackermann (1793-1865, art historian and librarian; his stamp, 'Dr. WA Pr.' on the title; his sale, Rudolph Weigel, Dresden, 1853) -- Sir Charles Dutton Price (1800-1872, 2nd Baronet Price of Trengwaiton; ALS tipped-in from Bedford, dated 8 February 1857, discussing the binding commission) -- Henry Hope Edwardes (1829-1900, 10th Baronet Edwardes; bookplate; sale, Christie's, 20-23 May 1901, lot 147, £122 to Ellis for:) -- S.A. Thompson Yates (bookplate).
FIRST EDITION OF THE MOST CELEBRATED ILLUSTRATED PRINTED BOOK OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE, FINELY BOUND BY BEDFORD IN A GROLIER-STYLE BINDING. The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili epitomizes the Aldine mastery of type, illustration, design and execution. The identity of the artist responsible for the renowned woodcuts has long been debated, but the Paduan miniaturist Benedetto Bordon, active primarily in Venice, is now widely considered their author. The work tells the tale of Polifilo in search of his lost love, Polia. His journey takes him through a fantastic dream-world of pyramids and obelisks, classical gardens, ruined temples and bacchanalian festivals, before finding her and gaining ultimate enlightenment at the temple of Venus. Interpretations of the intricate text are many; a recent investigation into explicative near-contemporary annotations written into a copy at Modena shows that it served as a sort of humanist encyclopedia (D. Stichel, 'Reading the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili in the Cinquecento, marginal notes in a copy at Modena,' Aldus Manutius and Renaissance Culture, Essays in memory of Franklin D. Murphy, Florence: 1998). HC *5501; GW 7223; BMC V, 561 (IB. 24499-24502); CIBN C-523; IGI 3062; BSB-Ink. C-471; Bod-Inc. C-391; Renouard Alde, 21.5; Sander 2056; Essling 1198; Nixon 94; Austin 141; Goff C-767.
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