Arioste

1556 · réf. c15-1-43 — ARIOSTO Lodovico. Orlando Furioso di M. Lodovico Ariosto tutto ricorretto et di nuove figure adornato. Al quale di nuovo sono aggiunte le Annotationi gli Avvertimenti & le Dichiarationi di Girolamo Ruscelli la Vita dell'Autore descritta dal Signor Giovambattista Pigna gli Scontri de' luoghi mutati dall'Autore doppo la sua prima impressione la Dichiaratione di tutte le favole il Vocabolario di tutte le parole oscure & altre cose utili & necessarie. In Venetia: Appresso Vincenzo Valgrisi nella bottega d'Erasmo 1556. Two parts in one volume quarto. First Valgrisi quarto edition and the first edition of Orlando Furioso to contain Girolamo Ruscelli's extensive editorial and interpretive apparatus. Valgrisi's 1556 edition represents an important development in the publication history of Ariosto's poem combining Ruscelli's revised text and explanatory material with a new and ambitious program of full-page illustration. Illustrations Complete with all 46 full-page woodcut illustrations one for each of Ariosto's 46 cantos. The large narrative woodcuts are surrounded by elaborate Renaissance borders incorporating figures putti grotesques armor trophies and ornamental motifs. Individual compositions employ perspective and simultaneous narrative to depict multiple episodes from a canto within a single image. The canto arguments argomenti appear within smaller decorative woodcut cartouches accompanied by historiated and ornamental initials. The 1556 Valgrisi edition introduced these full-page illustrations which proved influential and were reused in later Valgrisi editions. The attribution of the illustrations has varied. They have historically been associated with Dosso Dossi and Battista Dossi and have also been connected with Donato Bercelli; more recent scholarship cautions that they may instead represent the collaborative work of artists associated with Valgrisi's workshop. The elaborate main title page is enclosed within an architectural woodcut incorporating a portrait medallion of Ariosto allegorical and ornamental figures and Valgrisi's distinctive serpent-and-staff device with VIN CENT. The Valgrisi device appears again within the volume. Contents: In addition to Ariosto's poem the volume contains the extensive scholarly apparatus prepared by Girolamo Ruscelli who sought to clarify the complex narrative and language of Orlando Furioso. His contributions include explanatory and interpretive material annotations discussions of difficult passages and a vocabulary of less familiar or obscure words. Ruscelli also standardized aspects of Ariosto's spelling and grammar. The supplementary section has its own 1556 title page: Annotationi et Avvertimenti di Girolamo Ruscelli sopra i luoghi difficili et importanti del Furioso. Also present is the Vocabolario di tutte le parole che sono nel Furioso le quali potessero essere oscure together with other explanatory and critical material associated with the edition. The breadth of Ruscelli's apparatus—annotations explanations allegorical interpretations and glossary—was a distinctive feature of Valgrisi's new edition. Importantly this copy retains the concluding Tavola de' principii di tutte le stanze del Furioso raccolta da Meser Giovan Battista Rota Padovano an extensive alphabetical index to the opening lines of the stanzas. The Tavola continues through the alphabet to its final leaf which concludes "IL FINE." The separately issued final Tavola is sometimes absent from surviving copies of this edition. Condition: Early vellum binding with exposed lacing at the spine. Vellum shows considerable age-related wear including staining and soiling small holes and marks and worn and bumped corners and edges. Text-block edges stained blue. Internally scattered age toning foxing staining occasional fingerprints/handling marks and marginal wear. Several leaves have old or professional paper restoration and reinforcement primarily along the outer margins and edges; in places the repair extends to the border of a woodcut. The illustrated portions remain substantially intact and the complete suite of all 46 full-page canto woodcuts is present generally with strong and detailed impressions. The main 1556 title page has undergone extensive restoration and has been backed/laid down onto a supporting sheet the restoration being clearly visible from the verso. A later tissue guard has been inserted between the later portrait of Ariosto and the original title page. Additional professional paper repairs are present on some leaf edges and margins. An early handwritten bibliographical annotation in Italian appears on a preliminary leaf. Despite the restoration and age-related defects the volume retains the features of greatest importance to this edition: all 46 full-page canto woodcuts; the separate 1556 Ruscelli Annotationi et Avvertimenti section; the vocabulary and supplementary material; and Rota's concluding Tavola through the final "IL FINE" leaf. Vincenzo Valgrisi hardcover