Italian Literature

Rhymes by Francesco Petrarca

Parma Co ‘Tipi Bodoniani Bodoni, 1799. 2 vols. 8vo (16 x 11 cm). Title, pp. XXXIV, 373; title, pp. xvii, 352.

Author:   PETRARCA

Original orange hardback binding with title on paper tags on the spine, slightly worn corners. Copy in more than good condition, with a small loss on the second leaf of the first volume. Rare.

The Blues and the Reds

Newly made Italian.

Author: Edmondo De Amicis

Publisher: Turin, Francesco Casanova publisher, 1897

In 8, 14 x 20.5 cm, pp. 184 + (8) of editorial advertising, with many illustrations in the text, including full-page ones, both photographs and illustrations by the painter Raffaele Faccioli.

Hardback editorial binding. Rare original edition, in the even rarer hardback version. Perfect condition.

It is considered one of the first literary works entirely dedicated to sports. In his youth, De Amicis had played handball and frequented the Piedmontese sferisteri, particularly the one in Turin on Via Napione. The exploits of champions such as Giovanni Battista da Portacomaro (with an interesting photograph of the sferisterio of the town), Bossotto, Giovanni Ziotti, Banchi, Caroli, Frullani, Ulivi, Fontana, Pettinari, etc., are recounted.

Poetic Components

Consecrated to the glorious name of the most eminent and most reverend prince, Cardinal Galeazzo Marescotti.

Author: Domenico Maria Orsini, marchese Della Penna 

Publisher: Rome, MDCCXII (1712), in the printing house of Gio: Francesco Chracas, near San Marco al Corso

1 volume in 4°, bound in full contemporary soft parchment;

pp. 160 with 3 engravings (continuous numbering, but each part of the work has its own title page). Copper-engraved vignette on each title page, ornate initials, and woodcut friezes in the text.

Domenico Maria Orsini (The Fugiastro of the Accademia degli Innominati), Marquis of Penna (Penna Teverina, in the Amelia area), includes in this collection Sacred Dramas set to Music, Madrigals, Songs set to Music, Sacred Songs, Sonnets, Odes, and Comedies.

Saverio Franchi in Impressioni sceniche, vol. II, p. 86, n. 73, records only the first three compositions of the collection.



An extraordinarily rare edition, not present in consulted bibliographies.

The Decameron

Newly corrected, illustrated & diligently printed by Nicolo D'Aristotile, called Zoppino

Author: M. Giovanni Boccaccio

Publisher: Vinegia, Nicolo D'Aristotele, called Zoppino, 1531

The Decameron by M. Giovanni Boccaccio, newly corrected, illustrated, and diligently printed by Nicolo D'Aristotile, called Zoppino, in the year of our Lord 1531. Adi. XXIII of the month of November (in the colophon), in Venice.

Binding in contemporary full parchment, renewed endpapers, with a handwritten title on the spine.

A very small woodworm hole marginally touching the text on the first pages, a small repaired gap at the bottom of the title page that does not touch the engraving, two or three small stains, and some light redness, otherwise in excellent condition.

This is a very refined edition, starting with the rich frontispiece frame featuring cupids, bacchantes, satyrs, etc., which harmonise well with Boccaccio's world. The vignettes, blending elegance with popular appeal, mark the beginning of a tradition of illustrating each day with special vignettes.

Extremely rare. In the ICCU Catalogue, only one copy is recorded in an Italian library. Br. Libr., p. 110. Not in Adams.

In 8°, (15.2 cm), 439 cc., 9 cc.nn. Illustrated frontispiece printed in red and black, and 10 different woodcuts at the beginning of each day.

Down.

Works - Giacomo Leopardi

Increased edition, ordered and corrected, according to the author's latest intention by Antonio Ranieri

Author: Giacomo Leopardi

Publisher:  Florence, Felice Le Monnier, 1845

Two volumes bound in one, contemporary half-leather binding, rare first edition, partly original (including La Ginestra).

Collection of all texts in Neapolitan language.

28 volumes

Publisher:  Naples, by Porcelli, 1783-89

Collection of all texts in the Neapolitan language. 28 volumes, printed in Naples by Porcelli between 1783 and 1789. Uniform binding in nineteenth-century half parchment with leather inserts (one volume slightly shorter).

Complete collection of all the works.