Ariosto, Orlando furioso, Venice, Valgrisi, 1556, later half calf

Ludovico Ariosto

Orlando furioso. Tutto ricorretto, et di nuove figure adornato... (Annotationi, et avvertimenti, di Girolamo Ruscelli). Venice: Vincenzo Valgrisi, 1556

2 parts in one volume, 4to (252 x 177mm.), first title within woodcut border, second title with woodcut printer's device (repeated on l4v), woodcut initials, full-page woodcut illustration at the start of each canto, argomento at start of each canto within a woodcut cartouche, late eighteenth-century half marbled calf, flat spine with gilt lettering, thin strip at foot of title excised and replaced, paper flaw in F7, occasional light staining, lower joint split, textblock splitting

This is Valgrisi's first quarto edition, the first edition to contain Ruscelli's interpretative apparatus, following his editions of the Decameron (1552) and Petrarca (1554). 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.

LITERATURE:

Edit16 2697; cf. Mortimer, Harvard Italian 29 (1562 Ruscelli/Valgrisi edition)

PROVENANCE:

Pietro Ciatti, inscription on flyleaf