HYPNEROTOMACHIA POLIPHILI

Item Details

Venice, Aldus Manutius (for Leonardus Crassus), (December 1499), early limp vellum, yap edges, paper spine label with title and date

 

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First edition of one of the most celebrated incunables, considered by many to be the most beautiful of all printed Venetian books of the Renaissance. The presumed author, Francesco Colonna, was a Dominican monk of the Zattere at Venice (the author's identity did not become evident until the 18th century when it was noticed that the 38 initials of the individual sections form the famous acrostic: "Poliam Frater Franciscus Columna Peramavit" - Brother Franciscus Columna loved Polia very much). The Hypnertomachia Poliphili was printed in Venice by Aldus Manutius in his re-cut Bembo type, which was cast by Francesco Griffo of Bologna. The book has become extremely rare in recent years and is a highly desired "masterpiece of integrated text and design, and influences designers to this day." -G. Scott Clemens.

This copy is in the original setting as called for by Neil Harris (Gutenberg Jarbuch, 2006), except the last few leaves which were substituted for the 2nd edition (E1-F3). Hand-corrected letters "AM" in the second title (a1r). (Saneque en Sanequam). The phallic woodcuts 'Sacrifice to Priapus' on m6r and the woodcut on x8v, are not mutilated in this folio, unlike the majority of copies. Vellum binding lightly age-darkened, with minor spotting to the rear cover. Natural creasing to the vellum covers. The textblock has separated along the front hinge but is still attached along the spine. Rear hinge cracked between the rear cover and F3. Paper spine label chipped with some loss. Lacking the front pastedown. Title page (A1) has become separated from the textblock, but is present in this copy. The last eleven (11) leaves in this copy are from the 2nd edition (1545, France), substituted most likely during the 16th century. There are 34 (of 39) woodcut initials present, as the last five were in the last eleven leaves of the first edition. Lacking the last leaf (errata and colophon). Very minor spotting / foxing to preliminary pages. Spotting / minor dampstaining to the very top edge of q8v-r4r. Dampstaining only affecting leaves C8-D8. A small ink-spot affecting the edges of the pages around r4-r6. The preserved state of the textblock, which contains the revolutionary typography and visually-stunning wood engravings, is remarkable.

Considered the "masterpiece of the classic style in Venetian illustration" (Albert Ilg, Ueber den Kunsthistorischen Werth der H. P., 1872), the tome was printed with 172 remarkable woodcuts commonly attributed to the Paduan miniature painter Benedetto Berdone (c.1455/6 - 1530). Regardless of the anonymity of the illustrator, the beauty of the engravings transport the reader into a world where Polipho's dream becomes a reality. 

George D. Painter, Keeper in charge of Incunabula of the British Museum, stated in the foreword of his Hypnerotomachia Poliphili of 1499 (Eugrammia Press, 1963) that "Gutenberg's Forty-Two-Line Bible of 1455 and the Hypnerotomachia of 1499 confront one another from opposite ends of the incunable period with equal and contrasting pre-eminence. The Gutenberg Bible is sombrely and sternly German, Gothic, Christian and mediaeval; the Hypnerotomachia is radiantly and graciously Italian, classic, pagan, and renascent. These are the two supreme masterpieces of the art of printing, and stand at the two poles of human endeavour and desire." 

The book is written in a Latinized version of Italian, offering a unique challenge to readers, as one must be near fluent in both Latin and Italian. Also contained in the text are various examples of Greek, which Manutius was very fond of, as well as early examples of Hebrew. One of the earliest documented cases of COMPLETE words in Arabic published in the entire world which can be found on the illustrated wood engraving of the three doors of the realm of Queen Telosia (h8r), perhaps one of the most important aspects about the Hypnerotomachia. This precedes the first book printed entirely in Arabic, which is The Kitab Salat al i (1514, Fano, Italy). 

The book contains two main stories in the text: one from our hero, Poliphilo, which was written around 1490, and one from his lover, Polia, which was written c.1467. There are numerous passages in Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, and Egyptian hieroglyphics, as well as mathematical notes, geometric and architectural construction plans, and more, perhaps inspired by Colonna's teachings of rhetoric at Treviso and Padua. A second edition published in France appeared in 1545.

Kallendorf 29; Goff C-767; HC * 5501; GW 7223; ISTC ic00767000; BMC V, 561 (IB 24500); IGI 3062; Essling 1198; BSB C-471.

 

Venice: Aldus Manutius (for Leonardus Crassus), (December 1499); folio (308 x 212 mm), early limp vellum, yap edges, paper spine label with title and date; a-y8, z10, A-E8, F3. Book # 138928

 

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