Colonna, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, Venice, Aldus, 1499, Riviere binding, Rosenberg copy

Colonna, Francesco. Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, ubi humana omnia non nisisomnium esse docet atque obiter plurima scitu sane quam digna commemorat. Venice: Aldo Manuzio for Leonardo Crassi, December 1499

A second copy of this richly illustrated work, and a relatively tall copy.

First edition, issue with text amended by stamping to "sanequam" in line 5 of title on a1 recto. Again, all variant settings noted by Neil Harris are here in the original setting, as is sheet s3.6, as noted by John Lancaster in 2015 (as Munich SB, BSB-Ink C-471: s3r li. 17 ends “apro-” || s3v li. 1 ends “Her-”).

Super-Chancery folio (313 x 202 mm). Roman type, 39 lines plus headline. collation: *⁴ a-y⁸ z¹⁰ A-E⁸ F⁴: 234 leaves. Numerous woodcut illustrations and initials, manuscript note in Italian at foot of c1v. (Washed resulting in some light browning, with traces of some washed annotations, title-page slightly soiled, repaired tear to e8, z10 slightly stained, center of woodcut on m6 erased and replaced in pen facsimile, center of woodcut on x8v erased, errata leaf supplied from another copy.)

binding: crushed dark brown morocco by Riviere & Son (318 x 217 mm), blind-tooled in period style, spine with gilt lettering, gilt edges.

provenance: Alexandre Paul Rosenberg (1921-1987), bookplate (designed by Picasso, a friend of his art dealer father) — H.P. Kraus, catalogue 154 (New York, 1979), item 28 — Laurence Witten, catalogue 11 (Southport, 1980), item 98. acquisition: Purchased from Laurence Witten, Southport, 1980. references: UCLA 35; Aldo Manuzio tipografo 36; BMC v 561-2; Goff C767; GW 7223; ISTC ic00767000; Renouard 21/5; for reset sheets and variant copies, see Harris, "Nine Reset Sheets in the Aldine Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (1499)", Gutenberg Jahrbuch (2006) pp. 245-75