Dante Alighieri | La divina commedia. Milan, 1809, 3 volumes, finely bound for the Duke of Saxe-Teschen by Friedrich Kraus

Dante Alighieri

La divina commedia. Milan: Luigi Mussi, 1809

NUMBER 5 OF 8 COPIES ON LARGE BLUE PAPER, from a total edition of 72 copies, 3 volumes, folio (570 x 380mm.), limitation page with ink signature and red wax seal of publisher Luigi Mussi

MAGNIFICENT RED STRAIGHT-GRAINED MOROCCO GILT, INLAID IN THE NEOCLASSICAL STYLE, BY GEORG FRIEDRICH KRAUSS (unsigned, but identifiable by the distinctive tools) FOR PRINCE ALBERT CASIMIR, DUKE OF SAXE-TESCHEN, covers with multiple frames of inlaid strips of green morocco and gilt rolls (among these Krauss’ bead, ribbon-and-flower, and Greek key rolls), flame-petalled flowers at corners, double raised bands separated by green morocco inlaid strip with metope-and-pentaglyph gilt roll, spines gilt in compartments with starburst centrepiece containing an inlaid green morocco medallion with the duke’s initials, two green morocco labels, gilt-rolled turn-ins, light blue watered silk endleaves bordered by gilt ribbon-and-flower roll, oblique floral tool at corners, gilt edges, occasional slight foxing

This rare deluxe issue of what Brunet and Graesse agree is a “beautiful edition” of the Divine Comedy was spectacularly bound for the renowned bibliophile Prince Albert Casimir of Saxony, Duke of Teschen, by his favoured binder, Viennese master Georg Friedrich Krauss (fl. 1791-1824), the most prominent continental binder working in the Neoclassical style of the day.

The son of Friedrich August II of Saxony and the son-in-law of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, Saxe-Teschen (1738‑1822) amassed a library of some 25,000 volumes that aligned with his devotion to the ideals of the Enlightenment. It included works by all the major authors prized by eighteenth century intellectuals, from Greek and Latin classics to the works of Shakespeare, Machiavelli, and Adam Smith. Many of the literary works were fine printings from illustrious presses like Bodoni and Didot, and a number of these elegant folio volumes were bound, as here, in the Neoclassical style by Krauss, employing his distinctive roll tools and the sunburst cypher he created for Saxe-Teschen.

Publisher Luigi Mussi’s grand folio issue of Dante features beautiful typography and tasteful layout with majestic margins; 62 copies were printed on imperial paper, eight on blue paper, and two on other specially made papers. Mussi, who also issued deluxe printings of Machiavelli and Ovid, inscribed and sealed the limitations page, which notes that the copy was designated for Saxe-Teschen.

REFERENCES: Brunet II, 506-507; Graesse II, 331

PROVENANCE: Herzog Albrecht Kasimir August von Sachsen-Teschen, limitation leaf, binding, shelfmark labels on front free endpapers; sale, Lucerne, Gilhofer and Ranschburg, 14-15 June 1932, lot 410, Bernard Breslauer, London; Michel Wittock, morocco bookplate, his sale, Christie’s 7 July 2004, lot 50