DANTE ALIGHIERI. - Lot 25

DANTE ALIGHIERI. Dante col sito, et forma dell'Inferno tratta dalla istessa descittione del poeta. Venice: Alde, Andrea di Asola, August 1515. - In-8, 160x102: (2 ff.), ff. 2-244, (3 ff. of 4). [()2 a7 (of 8 missing a1) b-z8 A-G8 H7 (of 8 missing blank leaf H7). Hardback parchment, covers entirely painted, depicting a central medallion in color surrounded by a rich arabesque frame drawn on a black background, the medallion on the first cover depicting a profile portrait of Dante, and that on the second cover depicting the Aldine anchor, spine with small nerves decorated with arabesques on a black background (C. Humbert). Renouard, p. 73. Second Aldine edition, considered rarer than the first of 1502. It is illustrated with three woodcuts at the end of the volume, depicting the map of Hell and the tables of Hell and Purgatory. These figures were not included in the 1502 edition. An interesting copy in a 20th-century binding decorated by the Swiss painter, illustrator and bibliophile Charles Humbert (1891-1958). During his career, he produced a number of calligraphic, illustrated and illuminated works, including Dante's L'Enfer and Mallarmé's L'Après-midi d'un faune. Copy incomplete of two leaves, namely leaf a1, which should include the aldine anchor and the interleaved false title, and blank leaf H7. These have been replaced by two later blank leaves. Binding very well preserved. First two leaves rebacked. Wormholes in the margins, without affecting the text, some light spotting not serious. Leaves H5 and H6 added. Provenance: Charles Humbert, with bookplate.