Dante Early Printed : Danthe alegieri fiorentino

Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321

Dante Early Printed

<p style='text-align: justify;'>This is the second edition of the Commedia printed in Venice by Matteo Capcasa (di Codeca), whose first edition is dated to March 1491 but was probably printed in March 1492 (see R64485). It differs in several respects from its earlier counterpart. First and foremost, the recto of the first sheet <a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(9);return false;'>a1r</a> acts as a title page, presenting the author’s name in large gothic type (‘Danthe alegieri fiorentino’). This means that the prefatory material usually associated with Landino’s ‘Comento’ begins on the verso of the first sheet <a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(10);return false;'>a1v</a>. The layout of the poem and commentary follows the visual scheme of the March 1491 edition quite closely but is not identical in its contents, with the sidenotes in particular being visibly expanded. These printed marginalia were important to Pietro da Figino, the corretore (editor) of the text, who mentions them but not the images in the colophon at the end of the edition.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Capcasa does however reuse all the woodcuts from his earlier edition, apart from the block for Inf. IX <a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(126);return false;'>g1v</a> which is here replaced with a repletion of the block depicting Inf. VIII <a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(117);return false;'>f5r</a>. The full-page illustration for Inf. I is also placed within a second frame <a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(30);return false;'>2a1v</a> which is also repeated on the recto of the facing page <a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(31);return false;'>2a2r</a>, presenting a lively double-page spread. Like Capcasa’s earlier print, this edition closes with the pseudonymous ‘Credo’, ‘Pater nostro’, and ‘Ave Maria di Dante’ <a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(628);return false;'>O5v</a>. Unlike the earlier edition, it does not display the printer’s device, and the register is expanded to fill a whole page <a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(629);return false;'>O6r</a>.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>This copy displays early nineteenth-century binding in full dark brown russia calfskin over wooden boards, crafted by the Hering (Firm). A white binder's ticket is visible on the <a dir='auto' href='' onclick='store.loadPage(4);return false;'>front endpaper verso</a> and reads: Bound by HERING. 9 Newman St.. The Hering firm of bookbinders moved to 9 Newman Street after the death of Charles Hering in 1815. The book was originally part of the Spencer Library at Althorp, Northamptonshire, which was largely assembled by George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer. It was acquired in 1892 by Enriqueta Rylands (d. 1908) from John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer (d. 1910), for The John Rylands Library.</p>