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:
"Softly blowing with his gentle breeze, Zephyrus slightly ruffled the lovely golden feathers of the divine child, and when his tranquil breath had carried us to the ebbing shore, we disembarked from the fateful boat. A numberless host of demi-goddesses bearing gifts and noble nymphs of especial beauty trooped up to the divine winged boy, with a great display of ornaments and pomp. They were sumptuously dressed with divine pride and more than regal adornment, exquisitely decked out and devoutly respectful, and in tender flower of their age; and they were dancing joyful Pyrrhic dances with virginal allure."
ReproNotes
"Softly blowing with his gentle breeze, Zephyrus slightly ruffled the lovely golden feathers of the divine child, and when his tranquil breath had carried us to the ebbing shore, we disembarked from the fateful boat. A numberless host of demi-goddesses bearing gifts and noble nymphs of especial beauty trooped up to the divine winged boy, with a great display of ornaments and pomp. They were sumptuously dressed with divine pride and more than regal adornment, exquisitely decked out and devoutly respectful, and in tender flower of their age; and they were dancing joyful Pyrrhic dances with virginal allure."
Image Notes
Rights Type:
fair use
ReproRightsDetails
fair use
Rights Type
Hypnerotomachie, ou Discours du Songe de Poliphile
