DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.30698#0128
112
ITALIAN BOOKS. [Nicolo di Lorenzo,
for a faithful bibliographical description of the magnificent volume
before us; a description, which will not be deexned unnecessarily
minute by those who know the worth, or covet the possession, of so
estimable an edition. We are now to pay equal attention to another
very interesting feature in this book; namely, the Copper Plate
Engravings.
Till the time of Heineken it was conceived that there were only two
engravings belonging to the work; which wei'e attached to the first
two cantos of the Inferno. There are some copies without a single
engraving (altliough AudifFredi says he never saw such a copy), and the
one whicli Maittaire saw was pi’obably of that number; since he makes
no mention of any decoration. Annal. Typog. vol. i. p. 419. De Bure
speaks of only two engravings; and the copies in the Floncel and La
Valliere Collections had only the same number. See the Bibliographie
Instructive, vol. iii. p. 622-4; Bihlioteca di Floncel.* vol. i. p. 243,
n°. 3298, and Catalogue de la Valliere, vol. ii. p. 490. In this
latter copy there were 17 di’awings, or fac-similes, to make up tlie
number of 19. The copy in the Ci’evenna Collection had 3 coppex’-
plates; Bibl. Crevenn. vol. iii. pt. ii. p. 3, n°. 4548. That in the Pinelli
Library (described as ‘ Esemplare, di maravigliosa belleza, che ha
larghissimi mai’gini, e le tre lettere iniziali delle tre Cantiche del
Poema vagamente miniate e dorate/ &c.) had only 2 copper-plates, with
17 fac-similes. Bibl. Pinell. vol. iv. p. 280, n°. 1913. Neither the
Haym nor the Gouttard Collections contained a copy; and the one in
the Bibl. Boutourlin, p. 9,97, n°. 988, is not described as containing a
single plate. Ileineken liad seen 13 plates; but 11 of these (which
were in the famous collection of Maiiette) wei’e detaclied, and not
inserted in the volume. He adds, that lxe has seen only 2 plates struck
off upon the paper on which the text is printed. Idde Generale, fyc. p.
141-2. Haym is very superficial. He describes the volume to be in
large or royal folio, with tlie cuts of Botticelli; and that it is ‘ a very
beautiful and rare edition.’ Bibliot. Ital. vol. ii. p. 6, edit. 1803.
Audiffredi mentions rather a singular circumstance relating tothe first
two vignettes. He says, that in one of the two copies in the Casana-
tcnsian library, there were three cuts, but the second and third were
the same. The first cut was not placed, as usual, at the bottom of the
iu'st page of the fix’st canto of the Inferno, but at the bottoin of the 15th
Ihis copy bearsa colophon as if the edition liad been printed at Venice, by Petrus
Cremonensis, in the same year.
ITALIAN BOOKS. [Nicolo di Lorenzo,
for a faithful bibliographical description of the magnificent volume
before us; a description, which will not be deexned unnecessarily
minute by those who know the worth, or covet the possession, of so
estimable an edition. We are now to pay equal attention to another
very interesting feature in this book; namely, the Copper Plate
Engravings.
Till the time of Heineken it was conceived that there were only two
engravings belonging to the work; which wei'e attached to the first
two cantos of the Inferno. There are some copies without a single
engraving (altliough AudifFredi says he never saw such a copy), and the
one whicli Maittaire saw was pi’obably of that number; since he makes
no mention of any decoration. Annal. Typog. vol. i. p. 419. De Bure
speaks of only two engravings; and the copies in the Floncel and La
Valliere Collections had only the same number. See the Bibliographie
Instructive, vol. iii. p. 622-4; Bihlioteca di Floncel.* vol. i. p. 243,
n°. 3298, and Catalogue de la Valliere, vol. ii. p. 490. In this
latter copy there were 17 di’awings, or fac-similes, to make up tlie
number of 19. The copy in the Ci’evenna Collection had 3 coppex’-
plates; Bibl. Crevenn. vol. iii. pt. ii. p. 3, n°. 4548. That in the Pinelli
Library (described as ‘ Esemplare, di maravigliosa belleza, che ha
larghissimi mai’gini, e le tre lettere iniziali delle tre Cantiche del
Poema vagamente miniate e dorate/ &c.) had only 2 copper-plates, with
17 fac-similes. Bibl. Pinell. vol. iv. p. 280, n°. 1913. Neither the
Haym nor the Gouttard Collections contained a copy; and the one in
the Bibl. Boutourlin, p. 9,97, n°. 988, is not described as containing a
single plate. Ileineken liad seen 13 plates; but 11 of these (which
were in the famous collection of Maiiette) wei’e detaclied, and not
inserted in the volume. He adds, that lxe has seen only 2 plates struck
off upon the paper on which the text is printed. Idde Generale, fyc. p.
141-2. Haym is very superficial. He describes the volume to be in
large or royal folio, with tlie cuts of Botticelli; and that it is ‘ a very
beautiful and rare edition.’ Bibliot. Ital. vol. ii. p. 6, edit. 1803.
Audiffredi mentions rather a singular circumstance relating tothe first
two vignettes. He says, that in one of the two copies in the Casana-
tcnsian library, there were three cuts, but the second and third were
the same. The first cut was not placed, as usual, at the bottom of the
iu'st page of the fix’st canto of the Inferno, but at the bottoin of the 15th
Ihis copy bearsa colophon as if the edition liad been printed at Venice, by Petrus
Cremonensis, in the same year.