La Divina Commedia ... manoscritta da Boccaccio. by Dante Alighieri; Aloisio Fantoni (ed.) - 1820-23

Milano: Aldo Martello Editore, 1965. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Edition published to celebrate the seven hundredth anniversary of Dante's birth and limited to 500 numbered copies. In three volumes. 361pp; 333pp; 345pp. Full deep green morocco ruled and lettered in gold on the spine, five raised bands, top edges gilt, others uncut, green endpapers; printed on special Ventura paper. The volumes come in sturdy green paper covered publisher's slipcases with leather inserts. With more than one hundred illustrations by fifty contemporary Italian artists including Giorgio de Chirico, Renato Guttuso, Emilio Greco, Aligi Sassu, Carlo Carrà, Remo Brindisi, Massimo Campigli, Carlo Corsi, Carlo Guarienti assembled for a special Quadriennale exhibition in 1960. Very mild wear to the spines but a superb set nonetheless. This copy, not numbered, is ad personam for Bruno Molajoli. ; Quarto.

Philadelphia: G. B. Zieber & Co, 1845. First Edition. Hardcover. iv, [5]-168pp. Brown quarter morocco and marbled boards, spine lettered and ruled in gold. With the armorial bookplate of E. Hubert Litchfield. Mild scattered foxing throughout. A near fine copy. Scarce. BAL 8085. In Van Winkle, p. 13. ; Twelvemo.

Parigi: Appresso Agostino Delalain, Pietro Durand, Gio: Claudio Molini, 1771. First Edition. Hardcover. Illustrated by Gravelot, Hubert-François. In two volumes. 331pp; 340pp. Contemporary full mottled calf, sides with triple gilt fillets, ornate gilt spines, gilt inside dentelles. All edges gilt, marbled endpapers. Frontispieces, titles, dedication, nineteen inserted plates, nine full-page illustrations, head-pieces, tail-pieces, all by Gravelot and engraved by Ponce, Leveau, Le Roy, Rousseau, Henriquez, and others. Rubbing and scuffs to sides and edges, three small old ink stains to bottom edge of volume one, short corner tear to one leaf. Lacks the plate for the eighteenth canto and there are some very minor markings in ink to some of the plates. From what transpires from the two old inscriptions on the front endpapers this set was donated by the Vicar of a church near Brescia to a noted scholar and professor at the University of Brescia. The ink in the markings appears to be the same as the… Read More

Italia: n.p., 1835. Very Good. 19 cm; 20 pages (three blank), including 7 full-page illustrations with captions. Text and illustrations lithographed throughout. Bound in (later?) plain wraps. Not in Melzi. No copies located. Apparently unrecorded booklet with text and illustrations produced completely in lithograph. The text reproduces an italic calligraphy that must have been lettered in reverse on stone, or written out on transfer paper before being applied to the lithographic stone. The narrative concerns a lady who is handily juggling simultaneous affairs with a young man and with the young man's father.

Bologna: Bartolomeo Borghi, 1747. First edition. Good. Octavo (19cm); viii, 314 pages (misnumbered in last gathering--a point of the first printing), and XVI full page engraved plates, along with several woodcut tables in text. In 18th-century two-tone woodblock decorated paper over boards. Paper label on spine worn and illegible. Spine darkened and faded. Endleaves renewed. Some spots and stains throughout. References: Honeyman 47 ("Contains arithmetical puzzles, tricks with cards and dice, problems relating to the theory of numbers, sleight of hand, etc." ); Riccardi I, 15 ("oltre i giuochi numerici contiene ancora dilettevoli giuochi di prestigio"); Caillet 1, #146 ("Ouvrage sur les nombres et sur les secrets et recettes, enrichi des figures gravées hors texte.") First edition of the first book on prestidigitation printed in Italy. The text is a handbook of dice and card games, mathematical riddles, sleight-of-hand, and magic, illustrated by 16 engraved plates and several tables. Among… Read More

Milano: Aldo Martello Editore, 1965. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Edition published to celebrate the seven hundredth anniversary of Dante's birth and limited to 500 numbered copies. In three volumes. 361pp; 333pp; 345pp. Full deep green morocco ruled and lettered in gold on the spine, five raised bands, top edges gilt, others uncut, green endpapers; printed on special Ventura paper. The volumes come in sturdy green paper covered publisher's slipcases with leather inserts. With more than one hundred illustrations by fifty contemporary Italian artists including Giorgio de Chirico, Renato Guttuso, Emilio Greco, Aligi Sassu, Carlo Carrà, Remo Brindisi, Massimo Campigli, Carlo Corsi, Carlo Guarienti assembled for a special Quadriennale exhibition in 1960. Very mild wear to the spines but a superb set nonetheless. This copy, not numbered, is ad personam for Bruno Molajoli. ; Quarto.

Philadelphia: G. B. Zieber & Co, 1845. First Edition. Hardcover. iv, [5]-168pp. Brown quarter morocco and marbled boards, spine lettered and ruled in gold. With the armorial bookplate of E. Hubert Litchfield. Mild scattered foxing throughout. A near fine copy. Scarce. BAL 8085. In Van Winkle, p. 13. ; Twelvemo.

Parigi: Appresso Agostino Delalain, Pietro Durand, Gio: Claudio Molini, 1771. First Edition. Hardcover. Illustrated by Gravelot, Hubert-François. In two volumes. 331pp; 340pp. Contemporary full mottled calf, sides with triple gilt fillets, ornate gilt spines, gilt inside dentelles. All edges gilt, marbled endpapers. Frontispieces, titles, dedication, nineteen inserted plates, nine full-page illustrations, head-pieces, tail-pieces, all by Gravelot and engraved by Ponce, Leveau, Le Roy, Rousseau, Henriquez, and others. Rubbing and scuffs to sides and edges, three small old ink stains to bottom edge of volume one, short corner tear to one leaf. Lacks the plate for the eighteenth canto and there are some very minor markings in ink to some of the plates. From what transpires from the two old inscriptions on the front endpapers this set was donated by the Vicar of a church near Brescia to a noted scholar and professor at the University of Brescia. The ink in the markings appears to be the same as the… Read More

Italia: n.p., 1835. Very Good. 19 cm; 20 pages (three blank), including 7 full-page illustrations with captions. Text and illustrations lithographed throughout. Bound in (later?) plain wraps. Not in Melzi. No copies located. Apparently unrecorded booklet with text and illustrations produced completely in lithograph. The text reproduces an italic calligraphy that must have been lettered in reverse on stone, or written out on transfer paper before being applied to the lithographic stone. The narrative concerns a lady who is handily juggling simultaneous affairs with a young man and with the young man's father.

Bologna: Bartolomeo Borghi, 1747. First edition. Good. Octavo (19cm); viii, 314 pages (misnumbered in last gathering--a point of the first printing), and XVI full page engraved plates, along with several woodcut tables in text. In 18th-century two-tone woodblock decorated paper over boards. Paper label on spine worn and illegible. Spine darkened and faded. Endleaves renewed. Some spots and stains throughout. References: Honeyman 47 ("Contains arithmetical puzzles, tricks with cards and dice, problems relating to the theory of numbers, sleight of hand, etc." ); Riccardi I, 15 ("oltre i giuochi numerici contiene ancora dilettevoli giuochi di prestigio"); Caillet 1, #146 ("Ouvrage sur les nombres et sur les secrets et recettes, enrichi des figures gravées hors texte.") First edition of the first book on prestidigitation printed in Italy. The text is a handbook of dice and card games, mathematical riddles, sleight-of-hand, and magic, illustrated by 16 engraved plates and several tables. Among… Read More