Cambridge MA, Harvard University, Houghton Library (US)
: Inc 6120 (A) IN PROCESS
ISTC No.id00029000
AuthorDante Alighieri
TitleLa Commedia (Comm: Christophorus Landinus). Add: Marsilius Ficinus: Ad Dantem gratulatio [Latin & Italian]
ImprintFlorence : Nicolaus Laurentii, Alamanus, 30 Aug. 1481
Formatf°
Languageita
SubjectLiterature
Keywordspoetry; commentary; collection
Periodmedieval
Description of Copy
Copy Id02141204
Holding InstitutionCambridge MA, Harvard University, Houghton Library (US)
ShelfmarkInc 6120 (A) IN PROCESS
NoteCreated by Camilla Marangoni for the Polonsky project "Dante 1481"; revised by John Lancaster with additional information from Lilian Armstrong. Record created from Walsh and other secondary sources; book not yet examined.
Physical DescriptionTwo engravings for Cantos I and II (Category A of Hind's classification system). Leaf a2 has been rebacked in the lower margin where the engraving has been impressed, with some damage to the lower margin of the engraving; leaf h8 wanting; blank leaf 2π2 not present. In this copy the last line of commentary to the Purgatorio (oo6v) has reading “per sua infinita misericordia”; Landino’s prologue to the Paradiso (A1r, missigned aaa1) is set up in 47 lines, the last beginning “te ciriempie.”
Size of leaves416 × 278 mm
Copy FeaturesIncomplete
Support material (book)Paper
SourceA. M. Hind, "Early Italian Engraving. A critical catalogue with complete reproduction of all the prints described", Kraus Reprint, Nendeln 1970, p. 104.
J. E. Walsh, "A catalogue of the fifteenth-century printed books in the Harvard University Library", Binghamton NY, Tempe AZ, 1991-95, 2851.
L. Armstrong, "The Hand-Illumination of Printed Books in Italy 1465-1515", in "The Painted Page. Italian Renaissance Book Illumination 1450-1550", Prestel, München 1994, pp. 35-47, at pp. 39-40.
R. Jacoff, "Charles Eliot Norton's 'Medicean Dante'", in "Harvard Library Bulletin", n.s. 5:3 (1994), 45-52.
Provenance
1481 -
1503
PlaceFlorence (Geonames ID: 3176959)
Areae-it
Time period1481 - 1503
Provenance TypeCoat of Arms
Decoration
Decoration NoteTwo engravings for Cantos I and II. Large initials, with marginal extensions, illuminated in gold and colours on l. a2r of the Inferno and on ll. aa2r and aa3r of the Purgatorio, the first including a portrait of Dante. A floral border on a2r includes a Medici coat of arms, identified by R. Jacoff (see above) as most likely that of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici; she and Lilian Armstrong also attribute the painting to the School of Francesco di Antonio del Chierico.
IlluminationsYes
Ornamental lettersYes
Coat of armsYes
Pen initialsYes
Rubrication noteInitials elsewhere added in blue in the Inferno and Purgatorio; spaces in Paradiso, with guide-letters, not filled in. (1481 ca.)
CertaintyThe recording of this evidence is considered uncertain
SourceLibrary catalogue
Documentary source
Provenance
1501 -
1600
Areae
Time period1501 - 1600
Provenance TypeManuscript Notes
Manuscript notesManuscript notes, completions. At the end of Canto XII (l. h7v), manuscript verses of the beginning of Canto XIII (Inf. XIII, 1-9). Missing verses (Purg. XXXII, 46-51) supplied in manuscript on l. oo1v.
CompletionsYes
CollationYes
Provenance
1728 -
1728
PlaceFlorence (Geonames ID: 3176959)
Areae-it
Time period1728 - 1728
Provenance TypeInscription
NoteOwnership annotation on front flyleaves of vols. 1-2: "Della Libreria di Carlo Tommaso del Senatore Alessandro Strozzi 1728".
CertaintyThe recording of this evidence is considered certain
SourceLibrary catalogue
Provenance
1871 -
1871
PlaceBologna (Geonames ID: 3181928)
Areae-it
Time period1871 - 1871
Provenance TypeDocumentary Evidence
NoteR. Jacoff (see above) records Norton as having purchased this copy from Gaetano Romagnoli, bookseller in Bologna, in 1871 (not specifically footnoted, but probably based on the Norton correspondence).
Note written by Romagnoli with information on the edition and on the copy, pasted on the first flyleaf.
CertaintyThe recording of this evidence is considered uncertain
SourceDocumentary source
Provenance
1871 -
1905
PlaceCambridge (Geonames ID: 4931972)
Arean-us-ma
Time period1871 - 1905
Provenance TypeExlibris
Bibliographic Evidence
NoteBookplate of Charles Eliot Norton on front pastedown. Norton purchased this copy in spring of 1871, as he states in a letter written to James Russell Lowell from Venice in May 1871 (C. Y. Dupont, "Collecting and Reading Dante in America: Harvard College Library and the Dante Society", in "Harvard Library Bulletin" 22:1 (2011), 1-57, at p. 24).
Method of acquisitionPurchase
Binding noteBound in three volumes in half 19th-century calf and red boards.
Binding date19th cent.
Binding typeBoards
Board materialPaper
Cover materialMixed
FurnitureNo
Binding statusRebound
CertaintyThe recording of this evidence is considered certain
SourceLibrary catalogue
Documentary source
Provenance
1905 -
PlaceCambridge (Geonames ID: 4931972)
Arean-us-ma
Time period1905 -
Provenance TypeBibliographic Evidence
NoteNorton wanted to donate his collection to Harvard, but he had to sell it due to financial reasons. A group of admirers thus raised fifteen thousand dollars to purchase his collection for Harvard Library (J. Turner, "The Liberal Education of Charles Eliot Norton", Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1999, pp. 407-408).
Method of acquisitionPurchase
CertaintyThe recording of this evidence is considered certain
SourceLibrary catalogue
Other Information
CompletenessThe enumeration of provenance evidence is considered incomplete
Last Edit2021-05-21 13:40:02