Collation: a6 A-Bb6 Cc8 = 164 ff., complete. With engraved woodcut title-page and 181 woodcuts illustrating the text, of which 13 are full-page, several crible initials in preliminary text, large 9-line floriated arabesque initials forming an acrostic throughout, Kerver's unicorn device (Renouard 515) on verso of final leaf. Folio, 338 x 222 mm, bound in nineteenth-century calf, marbled endpapers.
A superb French Edition of the most famous illustrated book of the Renaissance. A large number of these magnificent illustrations are dedicated to gardens. The designer of the original 1499 Aldus woodcuts remains unidentified although speculation has included artists such as Mantegna and Giovanni Bellini. Nor has the author of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili been identified with certainty. It was probably written by Francesco Colonna, a Dominican from Treviso, in Latin about 1445. Its two main themes are the allegorical dream-journey of Poliphilus in search of his love Polia, and the praise of Antique art and culture.
WorkNotes
Collation: a6 A-Bb6 Cc8 = 164 ff., complete. With engraved woodcut title-page and 181 woodcuts illustrating the text, of which 13 are full-page, several crible initials in preliminary text, large 9-line floriated arabesque initials forming an acrostic throughout, Kerver's unicorn device (Renouard 515) on verso of final leaf. Folio, 338 x 222 mm, bound in nineteenth-century calf, marbled endpapers.
A superb French Edition of the most famous illustrated book of the Renaissance. A large number of these magnificent illustrations are dedicated to gardens. The designer of the original 1499 Aldus woodcuts remains unidentified although speculation has included artists such as Mantegna and Giovanni Bellini. Nor has the author of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili been identified with certainty. It was probably written by Francesco Colonna, a Dominican from Treviso, in Latin about 1445. Its two main themes are the allegorical dream-journey of Poliphilus in search of his love Polia, and the praise of Antique art and culture.
Work Notes
Image Notes:
"Here, not very far from the great horse and on the same level, a huge elephant presented itself. It was made from a rock blacker than obsidian, thickly dusted with gold scintillae and silver specks that sparkled in stone. Its extreme hardness was shown by the bright lustre which caused objects to be reflected in it everywhere, except in those parts where the metal had stained it with its greenish exudations. This was not surprising, for on top of its broad back it had a wonderful caparison of bronze held by two straps girt around its monstrous belly. Between these great straps, which were attached by rivets of the same stone, there was a square block corresponding in size to the width of the obelisk that was placed above it. For there should never be air or empty space directly beneath a weight, otherwise it will be neither solid not durable."
ReproNotes
"Here, not very far from the great horse and on the same level, a huge elephant presented itself. It was made from a rock blacker than obsidian, thickly dusted with gold scintillae and silver specks that sparkled in stone. Its extreme hardness was shown by the bright lustre which caused objects to be reflected in it everywhere, except in those parts where the metal had stained it with its greenish exudations. This was not surprising, for on top of its broad back it had a wonderful caparison of bronze held by two straps girt around its monstrous belly. Between these great straps, which were attached by rivets of the same stone, there was a square block corresponding in size to the width of the obelisk that was placed above it. For there should never be air or empty space directly beneath a weight, otherwise it will be neither solid not durable."
Image Notes
Rights Type:
fair use
ReproRightsDetails
fair use
Rights Type
Hypnerotomachie, ou Discours du Songe de Poliphile
