Hard High-Country Poems & The Typographic Legacy of Ludovico Degli Arrighi

Berkeley, California: Peter Koch Printer, 2015. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine. Goldyne, Joseph; Hugill-Fontanel, Amelia. One of 126 copies, two volumes (complete) quarto size, 60 pp., signed (or initialled) by Robert Bringhurst, Joseph Goldyne, and Peter Koch. Michelangelo (1475-1564), one of the major figures in the Italian Renaissance who created monumental works of painting and sculpture such as the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the marble sculpture of David, was also a poet, composing works in the sonnet form as well as the madrigal. According to Peter Koch, Michelangelo was ". . .the greatest lyric poet of his time in the Italian language. . . .He treated his poems casually -- very much like sketches rather than finished works of art -- and they remained uncollected and unpublished for seventy years after his death."

In the volume "Hard High-Country Poems", ten of Michelangelo's poems, addressed to or about Vittoria Colonna, a woman he formed a relationship with later in his life, are collected. "The Typographic Legacy of Ludovico Degli Arrighi" is an essay by Canadian poet and typographer Robert Bringhurst (b. 1946) about the work of Ludovico Degli Arrighi (1475-1527), a prominent type designer in Renaissance Italy. Bringhurst also provides the translations of Michelangelo's poems for this publication.

This set is comprised of two volumes; one of poetry and the second about the type. Included in the volume of poems is a drypoint portrait of Michelangelo by Joseph Goldyne (b. 1942), a printmaker whose soft line work and subtle shadows are reminiscent of Italian Renaissance engravings and drypoints. In "Typographic Legacy" there are two photographs of punches used for cutting type by Amelia Hugill-Fontanel, an art historian and editor who is associate curator at the Cary Graphic Arts Collection at Rochester Institute of Technology.

This lovely publication by the inimitable Peter Koch has a stunning attention to detail, as the typefaces used are based on italics designed in the 1520s by Arrighi, and the slipcase is covered in a reproduction of an Arrighi type specimen sheet; a fascinating combination of poetry and typography from the Italian Renaissance.

___DESCRIPTION: Both volumes are bound in quarter blue leather with decorative paper boards with images of standing type, "Poems" with grey printed on beige paper, "Typographic Legacy" with red printed on beige paper, both with gilt lettering on the spines, red-brown endpapers, "Poems" with a frontispiece being a tipped-in drypoint portrait of Michelangelo by Joseph Goldyne, initialled in pencil by the artist below the plate, title page in red and black; Vicenza and Arrighi types, Amalfi Amatruda handmade paper, quarto size (9.5" by 5.75"), pagination: 27 unnumbered pages, one of 126 copies, this number 67, signed by Robert Bringhurst and Peter Koch at the colophon. "Tyographic Legacy" with the frontispiece being a tipped-in photograph of type punches by Amelia, Hugill-Fontanel, title page with printer's device in red, a second tipped-in photograph of type punches by Hugill-Fontanel following the title page; Monotype Arrighi and Centaur types, Hahnemuhle Biblio paper, quarto size (9.5" by 5.75"), pagination: [1-2] 3-31 [32] [1 colophon], one of 126 copies (unnumbered). Both volumes are encased in a chemise covered with beige paper, which is inside a slipcase covered in matching beige paper, wrapped in a reproduction of an Arrighi type specimen sheet with title and ruled borders in black and red printer's device on the spine.

___CONDITION: Both volumes are fine; the covers clean, the corners straight and unrubbed, the bindings tight with solid hinges, the interiors clean and bright, and free of prior owner markings; clean, crisp, as new. The chemise is fine also, sturdy, clean, and without wear. The slipcase is fine, strong and sturdy, clean and without wear. A stunning example.

___CITATION: Peter Koch Catalogue.

___POSTAGE:  International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.

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