1913 · Milan and Florence
by Alighieri, Dante; Riedisser, Ida (editor)
Milan and Florence: Alfieri & Lacroix, Succ. B. Seeber, 1913. First edition of this walking tour through Dante's Florence, illustrated with twenty-one mounted Florentine coats of arms. Editor Ida Riedisser follows the inscriptions from the Commedia posted on the streets of Florence: "I have endeavoured to arrange the inscriptions -- not in a topographical but rather in a chronological order, stringing them upon a historical thread, giving, as it were, a concise history of Florence up to the time of Dante." Each inscription is accompanied by an English translation and historical context. Perhaps most moving is the inscription in Via del Corso, Palazzo Cepparello, which commemorates Dante's account of Beatrice Portinari, accompanied by the mounted shield of her family: "Sovra candido vel, cinta d'oliva / Donna m'apparve sotto verde manto / Vestita del color di fiamma viva" ("In white veil with olive wreathed / A virgin in my view appeared, beneath / Green mantle robed in hue of living flame.") A very good example, scarce complete. Single volume, measuring 7 x 5 inches: iv, 88. Original stiff color pictorial wrappers, text block uncut and partially unopened. Title page printed in red and black, 21 mounted color-printed coats of arms throughout text, errata slip tipped to final leaf. Light shelfwear; ghost of circular label to corner of upper wrapper; original ties missing.
(Inventory #: 1003745)