Ariosto, Orlando furioso, Venice, 1556, later vellum, coloured, Lord Carrington's copy

Ludovico Ariosto

Orlando furioso... tutto ricorretto, et di nuove figure adornato (Annotationi et avvertimenti, di Girolamo Ruscelli, sopra i luoghi difficili, et importanti del Furioso). Venice: Vincenzo Valgrisi, 1556

2 parts in one volume, 4to (248 x 173mm.), title within woodcut border, full-page woodcut and woodcut cartouche at start of each canto, woodcut initials, woodcut printer's device on second title-page and at end, ALL HAND-COLOURED, ruled in red, later vellum, modern card slipcase, paper repairs to title-leaf, first quire repaired in gutter, a few small stains (some covered with white, particularly on p.285), leaf d5 browned and remargined and supplied from another copy

This is the first Ruscelli edition of Orlando Furioso, following his texts of Boccaccio and Petrarch, also published by Valgrisi. Ruscelli's aim was to aid understanding of the text with plot summaries, interpretative notes and a glossary of less common words, as well as a verse argomento of each canto in a decorative cartouche (written by Scipione Ammirato). With regard to Ariosto's text, Ruscelli standardised his spelling and corrected any perceived grammatical errors.

PROVENANCE

Robert Smith, first Lord Carrington, armorial bookplate

LITERATURE

Edit16 2697