Italian literature
Cesaretti Library
Texts of the national literary tradition
Italian Literature collects works spanning centuries of literary production, from its origins to the contemporary age. The catalogue offers representative texts of the main authors and currents, offering a detailed overview of the national literary tradition, useful for both research and in-depth reading.
The Adventures of Pinocchio
Author: Durium Discs
Complete box set - 1933. Good condition.
The Adventures of Pinocchio narrated, sung and dramatized on 18 unbreakable durium discs. The work was recorded in Milan in November 1933 by durium with the exclusive permission of the R. Bemporad F. company of Florence, the sole owner of "The Adventures of Pinocchio". The episodes and the color plates were printed by the Ripamonti graphic workshop of Orsenigo (CO). Color illustrations by Attilio Mussino (1878-1954).
Complete original box set containing 9 episodes, each in a double slipcase with two unbreakable durometer discs, each with its own color illustration and cut-out stickers. Only small tears, but overall very good condition.
Adonis, a poem by Cavalier Marino
Author: Marino Giambattista
With the arguments of Count Fortuniano Sanuitale, and the allegories of Don Lorenzo Scoto, in Venice: by Giacomo Sarzina, (1623.)
1 volume in 4°, bound in 18th-century leather. Pp. [8], 577, [ie 581], [3] p.; Woodcut initials and headers. P. 141-144 repeated in the numbering Segn.: [ast]⁴ A-2N⁸ 2O⁴. Last page blank
Specimen in good general condition, with a loose notebook (pp. 177-184). Very rare second edition printed a few months after the Parisian first.
Trust
Author: Torquato Tasso
Publisher: Crisopoli, Parma, printed with Bodonian characters, 1789.
1 volume In large 4to (27.2 cm), half leather binding with gold title on the label; Pp. [12] 14 [2] 142 [2bb.] in excellent condition, fresh and clear, on heavy paper, with copper portrait of the poet on the title page and heraldic headpiece also in copper (Lucatelli) at the incipit of the dedication to Princess Anna Malaspina Bastia, which is in italics and is attributed to Vincenzo Monti; very light and sporadic foxing.
Copy with the typographical error on page 38 line 14 «novi lini» instead of «novi lumi» [Brooks 380], or impression «which retains the same date and we know that it was made by Giuseppe, the printer's brother.
Jerusalem Delivered
Author: Torquato Tasso
Beautiful copy - Paris, in the printing house of Fr. Ambr. Didot l'Aîné, At Tilliard, Didot Fils Aîné & Firmin Didot, n.d. (1785-1786).
Two large quarto volumes of (4) leaves, 333 pp.; (2) leaves, 334 pp. Illustrated with a frontispiece and 40 plates engraved by Cochin by various sculptors.
Light marginal foxing, some cards uniformly browned.
Binding in contemporary full hard parchment, with spine label and gold title.
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"Second edition, with appendices from Monsieur's edition." A luxury edition produced by François-Ambroise Didot (1730–1804) on the orders of the Count of Provence, brother of Louis XVI. The Count of Provence (1755–1824), the future Louis XVIII, commissioned 82 drawings for this edition from the painter and illustrator Charles-Nicolas Cochin, but only 41 were engraved. The artist, considered one of the most important illustrators of the 18th century, contributed to numerous collective works and provided illustrations for Ariosto's Orlando Furioso.
Orlando Furioso
Author: Ludovico Ariosto
Birmingham, Baskerville for P. Molini, 1773. In-8°. 4 volumes. Beautiful burgundy full leather binding with gilt decorations and titles on the spine and covers.
First edition by Baskerville, in octavo format. A magnificent and celebrated illustrated typographical feat of Ariosto's masterpiece.
Some light browning, otherwise a very fine copy of this sought-after and renowned edition, printed on premium paper, and meticulously crafted both in terms of text and illustrations. Forty-six copperplate engravings at the beginning of each canto, based on drawings by Cipriani, C. N. Cochin, C. D. J. Eisen, J. B. Greuze, C. Monnet, and J. M. Moreau the Younger.
Rhymes by Francesco Petrarca
Author: Francesco Petrarca
Parma Co 'Tipi Bodoniani Bodoni, 1799. 2 vol. 8vo (16 x 11 cm). Title, pp. XXXIV, 373; title, pp. XVII, 352.
Original orange hardback binding with title on paper tags on the spine; corners slightly worn. This copy is in very good condition, with a small loss on the second leaf of the first volume.
Rare.
The blues and the reds
Newly made Italian
Author: Edmondo De Amicis
Publisher: Turin, Francesco Casanova publisher, 1897
In 8, 14 x 20.5 cm, pp. 184 (8) of editorial advertising, with many illustrations in the text, including full-page ones, both photographs and illustrations by the painter Raffaele Faccioli.
Hardcover. Rare original edition, even rarer in hardcover. Perfect condition.
It is considered one of the first literary works entirely dedicated to sports. In his youth, De Amicis played fistball and frequented the Piedmontese arenas, especially the one on Via Napione in Turin. It recounts the exploits of champions such as Giovanni Battista da Portacomaro (an interesting photograph of the town's arena), Bossotto, Giovanni Ziotti, Banchi, Caroli, Frullani, Ulivi, Fontana, Pettinari, and others.
Poetic Components
AuthorDomenico Maria Orsini, Marquis Della Penna
Publisher: In Rome, MDCCXII (1712) in the printing house of Gio: Francesco Chracas, near San Marco al corso.
Consecrated to the glorious name of the most eminent and reverend prince, Cardinal Galeazzo Marescotti.
One volume in 4vo, bound in contemporary full soft parchment; 160 pp. with 3 engravings. (Continuous numbering, but each section of the work has its own title page). Copperplate vignette on each title page, ornate initials and woodcut decorations in the text.
Edition of extraordinary rarity, not present in the consulted bibliographies.
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Domenico Maria Orsini (The "Fugiastro" of the Accademia degli Innominati), Marquis of Penna (Penna Teverina, in the Amelia area), includes in this collection Sacred Dramas set to Music, Madrigals, Songs set to Music, Sacred Songs, Sonnets, Odes, Comedies.
Saverio Franchi in -Impressioni sceniche - vol. II, p. 86, n. 73, demonstrates that he is aware of only the first three compositions of the collection.
The Decameron
Author: Mr. Giovanni Boccaccio
Publisher: Venice, Nicolo D'Aristotele called Zoppino, 1531
Newly corrected, historiated & diligently printed by Nicolo D Aristotile called Zoppino.
The Decameron by M. Giovanni Boccaccio, newly corrected, historiated, and diligently printed by Nicolo D Aristotile called Zoppino in the year of our Lord 1531. Adi. XXIII of the month of November (in the colophon), in Venice. Binding in contemporary full parchment, renewed endpapers, with handwritten title on the spine.
A very small woodworm hole marginally affecting the text on the first few leaves, a small, repaired gap at the bottom of the title page that does not affect the engraving, two or three small stains, and some slight redness, otherwise in excellent condition.
Rare.
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This is a very refined edition, beginning with the richly framed title page, which features images of cupids, bacchantes, satyrs, and so on, appearing closely integrated with Boccaccio's world. This edition also marks the beginning of the practice of illustrating one day at a time with special vignettes, a practice that would prove to be widely followed in subsequent editions, so much so that it became a veritable tradition. Extremely rare. Only one copy is in the ICCU Catalogue, held in one Italian library. Br. Libr., p. 110. Not in Adams.
In 8° (15.2 cm), 439 cc., 9 cc.nn. Illustrated frontispiece printed in red and black and 10 woodcuts, each different from the other, at the beginning of each day.
Works by Giacomo Leopardi
Author: Giacomo Leopardi
Publisher: Florence, Felice Le Monnier, 1845
Augmented, ordered and corrected edition, according to the author's latest intentions by Antonio Ranieri.
Two volumes bound in one, contemporary half-leather binding, rare first edition partly original (including the Ginestra).
Collection of all texts in the Neapolitan language
28 volumes
Publisher: Naples, from Porcelli, 1783-89
Collection of all texts in the Neapolitan language. 28 volumes, printed in Naples by Porcelli between 1783 and 1789. Uniform 19th-century half-parchment binding with leather bindings (one volume is slightly shorter).
Complete collection of all the works.
