probably 17th-century, reads: “This Benvenuto lived at the time of Petrarch and was his friend, as it can be read in Domenico Mellini’s treatise on Countess Matelda at page 2” (i.e. Dell’ origine, fatti, costumi, e lodi di Matelda , 1589). Della Lana’s commentary, as noted by Gamba, stands out among the others as it comprises numerous “curious short stories”, namely mythological and biblical tales referenced in Dante’s text (Gamba 382). This edition also includes at the end, published here for the first time, two poetic summaries (“Capitoli in terza rima”) of the Commedia by Dante’s son Jacopo and by Bosone da Gubbio, and a few prayers in terza rima attributed to Dante, including the creed, Pater noster, and Ave Maria. The handsome binding is by Francis Bedford (1800–1884, Ramsden, p. 36), “the leading English bookbinder of his time” ( ODNB ), presumably for the Castlecraig library. The design of the decoration on the covers of this volume, and particularly the gilt strapwork roll filling the inner frame and the centrepieces, imitates the style of Venetian bindings of the 15th century. Provenance: a) Sir Thomas David Gibson-Carmichael (1859– 1926), 11th baronet of Castlecraig, Peebleshire, with his armorial bookplates; he was governor of Victoria 1908–11, Madras 1911–12, and Bengal 1912–17; his sale at Sotheby’s Wilkinson & Hodge, 23 March 1903, lot 269; b) Robert Hoe (1839–1909), American bibliophile and collector, first president of the Grolier Club, with his gilt bookplate; his sale at Anderson Auction Co., 24 April 1911, lot 960; c) Giuseppe Martini (1870–1944), Italian book dealer and learned bibliographer, with his bookplate and loosely inserted copy of his manuscript note concerning this volume; his sale at Hoepli, Lucerne, 27–29 August 1934, lot 70; d) Luigi and Sandra Morandi, Italian book collectors, with bookplate; their sale at Sotheby’s Milan, 26 June 2007. Folio (337 × 233 mm). Finely bound in reddish brown crushed goatskin by Francis Bedford, covers with concentric frames with two-line gilt and thick black rules enclosing decorative rolls, two medallions decorated with interlaced motifs at centre, board edges ruled in gilt, turn-ins with gilt rule either side of blind rule, vellum endleaves, gilt edges. Housed in a red roan folding case (some stripping). 374 (of 376) leaves, with a1 blank but without the first and final blank; 45–50 lines, gothic text in 2 columns, blank initial spaces with initials supplied in manuscript. Early manuscript 2-line annotation to an initial blank leaf apparently preserved from the first binding. Some leaves misbound: n5 and n6 in gathering y, x5, and x6 in gathering t, and y5 and y6 in gathering x. Joints very slightly rubbed, intermittent light spotting or foxing mainly to blank margins, repaired tears to blank margins of leaves c3 and p1, tiny hole to blank margin of leaves y and y3 repaired, small paper loss due to paper flaw in upper outer corner of leaf gg8, text unaffected. A fine, clean, and wide-margined copy on thick paper. ¶ Batines, Bibliografia Dantesca I , 1845, 23; BMC V 248; Gamba, Serie dei testi di lingua , 1839, no. 382; Goff D–27; GW 7964; Hain 5942 *; ISTC id00027000; Leg 382. Giuseppe Martini, Catalogo della Libreria, Parte Prima, Incunaboli , 1934–35, no. 144. £175,000 [155450]
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86 DANTE ALIGHIERI. La Commedia. [Venice:] Vindelinus de Spira, 1477 with boccaccio’s life of dante and an extensive commentary, both appearing for the first time First edition with commentary and the first to contain Boccaccio’s Vita di Dante , one of the most important Dante biographical sources to date and the first to attribute the adjective “divina” to the Commedia . Published only five years after the editio princeps (Foligno, 1472), it was edited by Cristoforo Berardi of Pesaro and printed by Vindelino de Spira in Venice. This edition, the fifth overall, corrects the text of the editio princeps on the basis of a new manuscript from a different tradition. The commentary – now attributed to Jacopo della Lana – is erroneously credited in the text to Benvenuto d’Imola. A bibliographical annotation in Italian vernacular to this copy,
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sharjah international book fair
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