![[COLONNA, Francesco (1433-1527)]. Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, in Italian. Venice: Aldus Manutius for Leonardus Crassus, December 1499.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2003/CKS/2003_CKS_06704_0051_000(054429).jpg?w=1)
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[COLONNA, Francesco (1433-1527)]. Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, in Italian. Venice: Aldus Manutius for Leonardus Crassus, December 1499.
Super-chancery 2° (300 x 200mm). Collation: \Kp\k4 a-y8 z10 A-E8 F4 (\Kp\k1 title, \Kp\k1v dedicatory letter by Crasso to Guido, Duke of Urbino, \Kp\k2r poem to Crasso by Giovanni Battista Scita, \kp\k3 synopses in verse and prose, \Kp\k4v 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; D2 supplied from another copy. 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 Bordone, of which 11 are full-page (the Priapus cut untouched), 39 woodcut initials form an acrostic spelling the name Franciscus Columna. (Some spotting and light browning, occasional stain, repairs in about 4 leaves with a few letters partly restored, hinges strengthened in first and final two quires, tear just into text without loss on k3.) Contemporary Italian blindtooled brown goatskin over thin pasteboard, multiple fillets, arabesque outer border enclosing rhomboid compartment formed by the repetition of a different arabesque roll, corner tool repeated in the centre to form a quadrilobe ornament (rebacked, scuffed, a little worming, rear endleaves renewed). Provenance: Joannes Francisconus, 1531 (purchase inscription washed from second title).
FIRST EDITION of the most celebrated illustrated printed book of the Italian Renaissance. It 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).
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 Bordone, active primarily in Venice, is now widely and reliably considered their author. HC *5501; GW 7223; BMC V, 561 (IB. 24499-24502); Renouard Alde, 21.5; Sander 2056; Essling 1198; Goff C-767.
Super-chancery 2° (300 x 200mm). Collation: \Kp\k
FIRST EDITION of the most celebrated illustrated printed book of the Italian Renaissance. It 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).
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 Bordone, active primarily in Venice, is now widely and reliably considered their author. HC *5501; GW 7223; BMC V, 561 (IB. 24499-24502); Renouard Alde, 21.5; Sander 2056; Essling 1198; Goff C-767.
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