Details
DANTE Alighieri (1265-1321). Le Terze Rime. Venice: Aldus Manutius, August 1502.
Aldine 8° (153 x 89mm; interleaved to 196 x 115mm). Collation: a-z8 A-G8 H4 (a1r title, a1v subtitle, l2 blank, x3v blank, H4v anchor device). 244 leaves; interleaved. 3-line initial washed from a2, armorial device at foot of a2 (lightly washed). (Title extended at margins, margins of final leaves renewed, last leaf repaired obscuring the Aldine device which has been replaced in pen-and-ink facsimile, some staining.) Early 19th-century Italian green straight-grained morocco (very slightly rubbed), flat spine gilt, marbled endpapers, marbled paper slipcase. Provenance: unidentified armorial; Celio Calcagnini (1479-1541; annotations through Canto VII of Purgatorio (slightly trimmed); an unrelated note signed by Calcagnini and dated 1520 has been tipped in); Giuseppe Cav. Antonelli (librarian at Ferrara, inscription dated 1852 attributing the marginal annotations to Calcagnini).
FIRST ALDINE EDITION. The present copy has been extensively ANNOTATED BY CELIO CALCAGNINI, one of the leading intellectuals at Ferrara in the early 16th century. Calcagnini was a founding member of the Ferrarese Accademia degli Elevati in 1541, and he knew artists and authors such as Raphael and Ariosto; he is twice mentioned in Orlando Furioso (XLII, 90; XLVI, 14). His scholarly pursuits were wide, and included astronomy, philology, philosophy, science and archaeology. In addition, Calcagnini was himself a poet, and his intelligent comments on Dante in this volume show close study of both technique and expression.
It has long been recognised that certain alterations occurred in the type-setting of the Dante during the press run in the Aldine shop. For instance, the Aldine anchor device was added, thus making its first appearance in print, after some copies had already been completed. However, it has not been widely recognised that several quires were completely re-set and printed. The present copy and one in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana (17.B.6.17) have quires a, b and c which exist in a type-setting different from many, if not most, other copies, including lot 82. A correction occurring in the BMLF copy (the title verso reads "Alighieri", instead of "Alaghieri") has not been made in this copy, and seems to represent yet another variant in the edition. Adams D-83; Renouard 34:5; L. Bigliazzi and others, Aldo Manuzio tipografo 1494-1515 (Florence: 1994), 63.
Aldine 8° (153 x 89mm; interleaved to 196 x 115mm). Collation: a-z8 A-G8 H4 (a1r title, a1v subtitle, l2 blank, x3v blank, H4v anchor device). 244 leaves; interleaved. 3-line initial washed from a2, armorial device at foot of a2 (lightly washed). (Title extended at margins, margins of final leaves renewed, last leaf repaired obscuring the Aldine device which has been replaced in pen-and-ink facsimile, some staining.) Early 19th-century Italian green straight-grained morocco (very slightly rubbed), flat spine gilt, marbled endpapers, marbled paper slipcase. Provenance: unidentified armorial; Celio Calcagnini (1479-1541; annotations through Canto VII of Purgatorio (slightly trimmed); an unrelated note signed by Calcagnini and dated 1520 has been tipped in); Giuseppe Cav. Antonelli (librarian at Ferrara, inscription dated 1852 attributing the marginal annotations to Calcagnini).
FIRST ALDINE EDITION. The present copy has been extensively ANNOTATED BY CELIO CALCAGNINI, one of the leading intellectuals at Ferrara in the early 16th century. Calcagnini was a founding member of the Ferrarese Accademia degli Elevati in 1541, and he knew artists and authors such as Raphael and Ariosto; he is twice mentioned in Orlando Furioso (XLII, 90; XLVI, 14). His scholarly pursuits were wide, and included astronomy, philology, philosophy, science and archaeology. In addition, Calcagnini was himself a poet, and his intelligent comments on Dante in this volume show close study of both technique and expression.
It has long been recognised that certain alterations occurred in the type-setting of the Dante during the press run in the Aldine shop. For instance, the Aldine anchor device was added, thus making its first appearance in print, after some copies had already been completed. However, it has not been widely recognised that several quires were completely re-set and printed. The present copy and one in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana (17.B.6.17) have quires a, b and c which exist in a type-setting different from many, if not most, other copies, including lot 82. A correction occurring in the BMLF copy (the title verso reads "Alighieri", instead of "Alaghieri") has not been made in this copy, and seems to represent yet another variant in the edition. Adams D-83; Renouard 34:5; L. Bigliazzi and others, Aldo Manuzio tipografo 1494-1515 (Florence: 1994), 63.