LE RIME DI FRANCESCO PETRARCA [Sonetti, Canzoni, Ballate, Sestine, Madrigala]

2 volumes. The especially handsome folio edition of Petrarca and Marsand. This Copy on Large and Grand paper, the best of the editions. Volume I with the very fine portraits beautifully engraved on copper by Raffaello Morghen and Mauro Gandolfi. The text in a fine and handsome Bodoniesque typography. Two engraved plates showing a view of Valchiusa engraved by Federico Lose, the other showing a facsimile of the celebrated words of the poet, handwritten on the Virgilian manuscript, and another five plates depicting landscapes and the monument of Petrarca. Folio (33 by 23 cm), very handsomely bound in full dark green grained morocco, the spines with raised bands ruled in gilt, the compartments with gilt panels formed by concentric squares tooled in gilt, lettered in gilt in two compartments, the covers and turnovers multi-ruled in gilt at the borders, dark green endleaves, all edges gilt. lix, 375; (2), 444 pp. A very regal and handsome set, the bindings elegant with some unobtrusive age mellowing to the vellum and textured cloth, the leather labels a bit rubbed. Internally both volumes are sound and sturdy, the hinges fine and tight. The text with some light spotting to which the paper is prone, this copy less than is typical and always quite mild.

Edizione: one of the finest printings of the great italian poet, this reminiscent of the great bodoni printings the work is a connoisseur's and bibliophile's treasure, printed in a small number of copies on large paper. published with the valuable work and study of antonio marsand and the true reference edition for all later publications. notable for its refinement and typographic elegance, comparable to bodoni's editions, and for the scrupulous attention paid to the critical analysis of texts. at the end of the book, a rich and accurate bibliography of all the previous editions of pertrarca's works.<br> one of the "great triumvirate" of italian poets, francesco petrarch's sonnets were admired and imitated throughout europe during the renaissance, and they served as the model for nearly all later western lyrical poetry. he was also the first true reviver of learning in medieval europe. he was a great student of the classical works-- histories, poetry, law and orations, and he included in his studies many ancient books and manuscripts that the medieval period had ignored for nearly a millennium. he also closely followed the politics and learning of his own age. it was with petrarca that the ancient and the modern eras met together, and a new stadium for the human spirit, that which we are wont to style renaissance, was opened.<br> many have stated that the book is as beautiful as a bodoni printing.<br> <br>brunet iv 556. graesse v 229. marsand p. 126. hortis 232. fiske p. 125. bellini, "storia della tipografica del seminario di padova