Dante. Con Nuove et Utili Ispositioni

Lyon: Guillaume Rouille, 1571. SECOND ROUILLE EDITION (a reprint of the 1551 edition.). Hardcover. Fine. A charming copy in 18th c. sprinkled calf, gilt, the boards ruled in gold and with small tulip tools at the corners; spine ruled and tooled in gold with charming elephants in the compartments (wear to the spine with loss of some gilding, label (“DANTE”) chipped affecting the “N”, upper hinge starting. The text is in fine condition. Title page with Rouille’s printer's device and “DANTE” in a woodcut compartment; 3 full-page woodcut illustrations (at the opening of “Inferno”, Purgatorio”, and “Paradiso”, and a woodcut medallion portrait of Dante in (truncated) profile on leaf A3 verso.

Guillaume Rouille’s edition of 1551 -which this edition follows- was the first edition of Dante to be printed in France. The book includes the commentary of Alessandro Vellutello (1473-1550), first printed in 1544.

The first illustration show Dante fleeing from the lion, leopard, and wolf that block his way out of the dark woods. Virgil, Dante’s guide on his journey through Hell and into Purgatory, approaches from the background. The second shows Dante and Virgil (having emerged from the Inferno) at the foot of Mount Purgatory, where they encounter Cato, who bids Virgil to wash the filth of the Inferno from Dante’s face and to dispel the mist that clouds his eyes. The third woodcut shows Beatrice, Dante’s beloved and his guide in the Paradiso, explaining the universal order to Dante. (Inventory #: 4997)