First edition of an Italian Renaissance heroic poem in thirty-six cantos, highly regarded by Tasso and published the year after the first authorized edition of Gerusalemme liberata. "Composed to celebrate the lineage of Gonzaga, [ Il fido amante ] sings of the deeds and trials of the valiant knight Gonzago, in his attempts to merit the favor of his beloved Ippolita-Vittoria. [In a tradition supported not long before by Ariosto,] the quest is intertwined with supernatural events, magicians, and evil powers" (DBI).