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Colonna, Francesco
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, ubi humana omnia non nisi somnium esse docet atque obiter plurima scitu sanequam digna commemorat, 1499
Estimate
€ 80.000 - 100.000
Sold
€ 99.060
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Information
Venice, Aldus Manutius, 1499. In 2nd. 304 x 200 mm., 234 cards, 39 lines, Roman type, 2 large and 37 small initials engraved in wood and 172 woodcut illustrations in the text including 11 full page attributed to Benedetto Bordon, usual printed correction by SANEQVE in SANEQVAM to the line 5 of the title, small tear at the white outer margin of c.i, on some papers counterprinting phenomena, at the inner upper margin of the D-E files, woodworm holes restored with slight losses of text, delicate restoration at the white margin of the colophon, binding of the century. XIX in Havana calfskin with fourfold gold frame to outline different compartments to the plates, in the center of which stands the aldine anchor always imprinted in gold, back with 4 nerves with title and decorations in gold, blue spray cuts.
Specialist Notes
FIRST EDITION OF THE MOST FAMOUS ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF THE RENAISSANCE .
Il Polifilo, a masterpiece of Venetian woodcut, is a journey of initiation in which the theme is Platonic love, camouflaged under the metaphor of the search for the beloved woman, a theme that not surprisingly recalls another novel that has as its theme the initiatory journey: the Metamorphoses of Apuleius. Noteworthy is the fact that the Polyphilus has an openly pagan character, with its constant reference to the gods of ancient Rome. It is also for this reason that some have considered that of Colonna a pseudonym under which a humanist from the circle of the Roman Academy of Pomponio Leto, already dissolved by the Pope with the accusation of a return to paganism, would be hidden. But the attributions of the work have been the subject of discussions and interventions for centuries, which increase the enigmatic charm of one of the most intriguing books of the Italian Renaissance.
PROVENANCE: marginal annotations by contemporary hand on some papers. HC * 5501; Goff C 757; GKW 7223; IGI 3062; BMC V 561; Renouard 21/5; Sander I 365. 1499. & nbsp;
THE LOT IS SOLD WITH CERTIFICATE OF FREE CIRCULATION
THE LOT IS DOLD WITH VALID EXPORT LICENSE < / p> & nbsp;
Il Polifilo, a masterpiece of Venetian woodcut, is a journey of initiation in which the theme is Platonic love, camouflaged under the metaphor of the search for the beloved woman, a theme that not surprisingly recalls another novel that has as its theme the initiatory journey: the Metamorphoses of Apuleius. Noteworthy is the fact that the Polyphilus has an openly pagan character, with its constant reference to the gods of ancient Rome. It is also for this reason that some have considered that of Colonna a pseudonym under which a humanist from the circle of the Roman Academy of Pomponio Leto, already dissolved by the Pope with the accusation of a return to paganism, would be hidden. But the attributions of the work have been the subject of discussions and interventions for centuries, which increase the enigmatic charm of one of the most intriguing books of the Italian Renaissance.
PROVENANCE: marginal annotations by contemporary hand on some papers. HC * 5501; Goff C 757; GKW 7223; IGI 3062; BMC V 561; Renouard 21/5; Sander I 365. 1499. & nbsp;
THE LOT IS SOLD WITH CERTIFICATE OF FREE CIRCULATION
THE LOT IS DOLD WITH VALID EXPORT LICENSE < / p> & nbsp;
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