Ariosto, Lodovico
Reggio Emilia 1474 – 1533 Ferrara

Orlando Furioso di M. Lodovico Ariosto [with Giovanni Andrea Barotti’s ‘Vita di Msr. Lodovico Ariosto. Riveduta, e accresciuta per la terza volta, e di Annotazioni non poco aumentata, che si sono portate in fine d’essa’; and ‘I Cinque Canti di M. Lodovico Ariosto. Tutti di nuovo revisti, e ricorretti da molti importantissimi errori’]. Tomo I [–IV].

Venice, Antonio Zatta, 1772

Four volumes, quarto (334 × 230 mm), printed throughout on blue paper.

i: (188) ff. signed *⁴ **⁴ a–g⁴ h² A–Z⁴ Aa–Oo⁴ Pp² and paginated (16) 1–60 (300), plus eight engraved plates inserted among preliminaries (frontispiece signed P.A. Novelli inv. e dis., title signed Pie. Ant. Nov. in. | Giu. Z. s., portrait of Ariosto signed G. Daniotto s., elevation and plan of his house signed Jo: Carri Ferrar. del. | G. Zuliani inc., of his tomb signed Aloys Passega Ferrar del. | G. Zuliani inc., of his chair signed Jo. Carri Ferrar. del | G. Zuliani inc., of his ‘Calamajo’ signed Jo: Carri Ferrar. delin. | G. Zuliani incid., and a specimen of his handwrit­ing signed Jo: Carri Ferrar. delin., all these plates called for in an ‘Avviso al legatore’ on folio *1 verso), engraved subtitle (from the matrice used for the title, with ‘Parte ii’ added), twelve plates illustrating the text (one inserted before each of Cantos i–xii), of which v signed P.A. Novelli. d. | G. Zuliani s. and xi–xii signed F. Fanbrini. s. | A.N. inv., the remainder anonymous. Each illustration and page of text enclosed by engraved figurative borders by repetition of twenty-two designs, engraved ‘Argomento’ at head of each Canto, engraved tail-pieces, initials, and other orna­ments, including arms of the dedicatee John Stuart, third Earl of Bute, most of these matrices anonymous, eight with signatures G. Zompini inv. – B. Crivellari inc. (folio a2), Zuane Magnini in. e sc. (*4v), G.M. scul. (**1r) B. Crivellari s. (**4v), B. Crivellari (C3v), B. Crivellari s. (P2v), B.Crivellari (X2v), Giov. Magnini s. (Pp2v).

ii: (214) ff. signed A–Z⁴ Aa–Zz⁴ Aaa–Fff⁴ Ggg⁶ without pagination, plus engraved title (from the matrice used for the previous volume, altered to read ‘Tomo ii’), engraved sub-title (from the same matrice, appropriately altered), and thirteen plates (one inserted before each of Cantos xiii–xxv), of which xiii, xxii–xxv signed P.A. Nov. inv.| G. Zuliani s. (or version thereof), xiv signed M.P. in. | G. Zuliani. s., xv–xviii signed F. Fanbrin s. | A.N. inv. (or version thereof), xix–xx signed A.N. inv. | G. Zuliani sc., xxi signed J. Leonardis sc. Each illustration and page of text enclosed by figurative borders selected from the group used in the previous volume, plus two new designs, en­graved ‘Argomento’ at head of each Canto, engraved tail-pieces, and initials (all of these matrices anonymous).

iii: (206) ff. signed A–Z⁴ Aa–Zz⁴ Aaa–Ddd⁴ Eee⁶ without pagination, plus engraved title (from the matrice used for the previous volume, altered to read ‘Tomo iii’), engraved sub-title (from the same matrice, appropriately altered), and fourteen plates (one inserted before each of Cantos xxvi–xxxix), of which xxvi–xxxii, xxxv–xxxvii signed P. Ant. Novelli inv. | G. Zuliani s. (or version thereof), xxxiii signed Giuseppe Zaise inv. | Giuseppe Danioto scol., xxxiv signed Giu. Zaise in. | Giu. Zuliani s., xxxviii signed P.A. Novelli inv. | G. Danioto scul., and xxxix signed Pier. Ant. Novelli inv. | Tomaso Baratti s. Each illustration and page of text enclosed by figurative borders selected from the group used in the previous vol­umes, engraved ‘Argomento’ at head of each Canto, en­graved tail-pieces, and initials, most of these matrices anonymous, three with signatures Nicol. Lindemann sc., Z. Magnini F., M. Giampiccoli inc.

iv: (268) ff. signed A–Z⁴ Aa–Zz⁴ Aaa–Xxx⁴ without pagination, plus engraved title (from the unaltered matrice used for the previous volume, a pen-stroke added to ‘Tomo iii’), engraved sub-title (from the same matrice, now read­ing correctly ‘Tomo iv. Parte ii’), and a series of seven plates (one inserted before each of Cantos xl–xlvi), of which xl, xliii, xlv signed P. Ant.o Novelli. inv. | Giacomo Maloso. Sc. (or version thereof), xli, xliv signed Pietro Novelli. inv. | Tomaso Baratti s., and xlii, xlvi signed P.A. Nov. inv. | Giu. Zuliani s. (or version thereof), and another series of five plates (one inserted before each of the Cinque canti), of which i–ii signed Pietro Novelli. inv. | Tomaso Baratti s. (or version thereof), and iii, v signed P. Ant. Novelli inv. | Giu. Zuliani s. (or version thereof), and iv signed Giacomo Maloso. Sc. | P.o Ant.o Novelli. inv. Each illustration and page of text enclosed by figurative borders selected from the group used in the previous volumes, engraved ‘Argomento’ at head of each Canto, engraved tail-pieces, and initials, one ornament signed Giampiccoli inc.

This copy is extra-illustrated by a portrait of Ariosto signed G. Garavaglia dis. ed inc. (printed on ordinary paper).

provenance Jos Wehrli, exlibris Ex libris Jos. Wehrli (designed by Jean Hentzen) on front paste-downs of all volumes — [possibly in Wehrli’s sale, by F. Fiévez, Brussels, 28–31 March 1930] — Roger Peyrefitte (1907–2000), typographical label Exlibris Roger Peyrefitte on front pastedown of first volume — Guy Loudmer & Hervé Poulain (Claude Guérin & Marc Loliée, experts), ‘Bibliothèque Roger Peyrefitte, première partie. Livres anciens, antiquités, décoration, numismatique, voyages’, Paris, 20 December 1976, lot 9 (FF 22,100) — Pierre Berès, his sale by Pierre Bergé & Associés, ‘Pierre Berès. 80 ans de passion. 4ème vente. Le Cabinet des Livres’, Paris, 20 June 2006, lot 67

uniformly bound in eighteenth-century Italian half-vellum, orange paste-paper on covers, the flat backs divided into six compartments by gilt rolls, green and orange leather lettering-pieces.

A remarkable copy, printed on blue paper, of Zatta’s lavishly illustrated and orna­mented edition of Ariosto, one of  ‘les chefs-d’œuvre du livre illustré vénitien du xviiie siècle’.¹ The book is the first and only published part of a projected raccolta of Italian poetry, financed by the dedicatee, John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (1713–1792), an ill-fated continuation of the publishing activities of the lately-deceased Consul Smith.²

All copies of the edition feature a suite of sixty-six full-page engraved plates (frontis­piece, portrait, four titles, four sub-titles, five plates in the ‘Vita’, forty-six for Orlando furioso, five plates for Cinque canti) and in addition fifty-one engraved ‘Argomenti’, numerous initials, head- and tail-pieces. Only a small number of special copies – we are aware of about twenty besides our own, printed on vellum, carta azzura, or two sizes of carta d’Olanda (quarto and folio, the latter usually bound in eight rather than four volumes) – were fur­ther embellished by figu­rative engraved borders enclosing each page of text. These special copies are prized by collectors, who have paid dearly for them from almost the moment of publica­tion to our own time.³

The creation of these special copies was ex­pensive of effort as well as of materials. Each sheet had to be fed through a press two or three times: once to print the engraved frames which enclose each page of text, again to print the text, sometimes yet again to add the engraved ‘Argomento’ or an engraved ornament. In the special copies, the full-page plates which adorn the ‘Vita’ and illustrate each Canto are sur­rounded by the same frames as the text pages (by repetition of twenty-four different matri­ces, each about 330 × 230 mm, sev­eral lettered p[resso] il Zatta con Priv. Ec.mo. Senato).⁴ The intent of these page borders is to allow the pictorial element to invade the text and the happy result is ‘one of the most rococo of Venetian books’.⁵

The layout of the edition probably was inspired by Giambattista Albrizzi’s edition of Tasso’s Gerusalemme liberata, published in 1745, in which a full-page engraving appears at the beginning of each Canto, a decorative border surrounds each ‘Argomento’, and deco­rative ornaments are employed profusely. The twenty large plates in Albrizzi’s Tasso (engraved after designs by Piazzetta) had broken with tradi­tion: in­stead of being crowded with incident and an­ticipating a number of events in the relevant Canto, they concentrated on an indi­vidual scene. Zatta’s Ariosto followed this new model; its forty-six large plates ‘apportent une innovation importante à l’illustration traditionnelle du poème, pratiquée encore à cette époque: elles constituent le frontispice de chaque nouveau chant et représen­tent une scène unique, narrative et précise, qui introduit l’action ou le passage considéré comme le plus significatif du poème. Elles se définissent donc non seulement comme un élément décoratif destiné, selon la tradition, à embellir le livre, mais déjà comme une approche interprétative du texte, une clef de lecture.’⁶

The full-page illustrations to Orlando furioso and the Cinque canti were engraved by Tomaso Baratti, Giuseppe Daniotto, Ferdinando Fambrini,⁷ Giacomo Leonardis,⁸ Giacomo Malosso, and Giuliano Zuliani, after designs supplied by Pier Antonio Novelli (1729–1804), the monogrammists ‘A.N.’ (probably Pier Antonio Novelli) and ‘M.P.’, and Giuseppe Zais (1709–1784). The five plates illustrating the ‘Vita’ were engraved by Zuliani from designs supplied by two Ferrarese draughtsmen, Luigi Passega and G. Carri. The ornaments are signed by Bartolommeo Crivellari, Giuliano Giampiccoli, Nicolas Lindemann, and Giovanni Magnini, or are anonymous.

The texts are presented in the recension of Giovanni Andrea Barotti (first published in 1741), accompanied by Barotti’s prefatory ‘Vita’ with ‘Appunti’ by Virginio Ariosti (evi­dently reprinted from the Prose italiane of Barotti, Ferrara 1770, ii, pp.137–208).⁹ Zatta’s proofreaders are identified in each volume as ‘Sig. Ab. D. Leonardo Marcellotto, e dal Sig. Antonio Cilis’.

Chief among the twenty-odd special copies known to us are two printed on vellum

● Mount Stuart House, Rothesay, Isle of Bute, the copy presented to the dedicatee John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute¹⁰ ● London, British Library, C.7.d.7–10, a copy perhaps pre­sented to George iii (page dimensions 339 × 230 mm).¹¹

Besides the copy here offered for sale, four others printed on blue paper can be traced

● Cambridge, ma, Harvard University, Houghton Library, Department of Printing and Graphic Arts, Typ 725.72 158 F (de­scribed in the library opac as an ‘uncut copy on blue paper’, yet the height stated is im­probably short: 290 mm)¹² ● Ferrara, Biblio­teca comunale Ariostea, Inven­tario 19276–19279, s B.6. 24–31 (bound as eight volumes, page dimensions 315 × 223 mm)¹³ ● Florence, Biblioteca nazionale centrale¹⁴ ● Washington, dc, Library of Congress, Rosenwald Collec­tion, PQ 4567.A2 1772.¹⁵

One of these or perhaps yet another copy printed on blue paper was offered for sale by the Leipzig booksellers T.O. Weigel, probably in the 1850s.¹⁶

Among special copies printed on large sheets of white carta ad uso d’Olanda we note

● Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University, Eisenhower Library, PG 1567.A2 1772 (height stated in library opac: 46 cm) ● Chicago, Newberry Library, Y 712. A 7077 (height stated in library opac: 34 cm) ● London, British Library, 81.l.4–7, a copy from the Royal Library of George iii (page dimensions: 363 × 240 mm)¹⁷ ● New York, New York Public Library, Spencer Collection, Ital. 1772 (height stated in library opac: 40 cm) ● Unlocated, a copy bound for the 3rd Earl of Bute’s grandson, Charles, 1st Lord Stuart de Rothesay (1779–1845), later in Major J.R. Abbey’s library (dimensions stated in auction sale catalogue: 396 × 275 mm).¹⁸

Ordinary copies with the narrow page borders are common, and no census is necessary; we note

● London, British Library, 637.k.10 (page di­men­sions: 276 × 200 mm) ● Rome, Biblioteca Angelica, SS.6.65–57 (height: 29 cm)¹⁹ ● Venice, Biblioteca Marciana, 79.C.20–23²⁰ ● Venice, Museo Civico Correr di Venezia (di­mensions: 284 × 209 mm).²¹

In such copies the title-page of the fourth volume is dated 1773; however it is not certain that the special copies were printed first.

references Giuseppe Agnelli and Giuseppe Ravegnani, Annali delle edizioni Ariostee (Bologna 1933), i, pp.202–204; Giuseppe Morazzoni, Il Libro illustrato veneziano del settecento (Milan 1943), p.213, pl. 80 (reproducing fron­tispiece and title-page from an ordinary copy); Maria Lanckorońska, Die Veneziani­sche Buchgraphik des xviii. Jahrhunderts (Hamburg 1950), no. 14, figs. 59–60 (reproducing Cantos xix, xxii from an ordinary copy); Marino De Grassi, Libri illustrati del Settecento veneziano, catalogue of an exhibi­tion, Cormòns, 29 November–15 December 1996 (Monfalcone 1996), p.169