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Books, Autographs & Prints

Tuesday 11 November 2025 e Wednesday 12 November 2025, 03:00 PM • Rome

355

John Flaxman

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, 1802

Estimate

€ 300 - 400

Sold

€ 426

The price includes buyer's premium

Information

[sl but Rome], sold by the engraver south of Strada Gregoriana N.203, 1802. In 2° oblong, 275 x 400mm. Engraved title page and 110 copperplate plates numbered 1-38, 1-39 and 1-33 with captions in Italian, scattered foxing, contemporary binding in blue half leather and cardboard, minor abrasions.

Specialist Notes

At the request of the young Dutch banker Thomas Hope, the English artist and sculptor John Flaxman (York 1755–London 1826) agreed to illustrate the Divine Comedy for three guineas each. During his stay in Italy, where he devoted himself to the study of ancient art, between 1787 and 1794 he created the plates in his essential, linear style, delineating the human figures and strong personalities with a few precise strokes. Flaxman's wife wrote in a letter that the illustrations of Dante "are drawn with simple lines, no shadow, and treated in the beautiful Gothic taste with the sentiment of the poet and artist united."

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