Petrarca, Il Petrarcha, Venice, Aldo Manuzio, August 1514, contemporary Italian black goatskin, illuminated

Petrarca, Francesco. Il Petrarcha. Venice: Aldo Manuzio, August 1514

An attractive copy of the second Aldine edition of Petrarch's Sonetti et Canzoni & Triomphi, expanded and revised by Aldo from the 1501 edition edited by Pietro Bembo. This new edition added Aldo's letter to the reader defending the presentation of the text, an extra canzone and seven sonetti, one of which, "Nel cor pien d'amarissima dolcezza," was traditionally the first capitolo of the Triumph of Fame, but had been removed by Bembo. This copy is from state B, with the final leaf bearing the errata (recto) and printer's device (verso) but not the register.

"The opening page of the text (fol. a3r) … is illuminated with a fully surrounding floral border within gilt-ruled compartments; the Greek letters "ΙΣ" beneath a suspension mark—doubtless a contracted form of IESVS in Greek—are at the top of the frame. The two birds to the right of the text hold golden leaves in their beaks that point to specific lines.

"The absence of armorials in the blank escutcheon within the wreath at the bottom is noteworthy, suggesting that this extensive border décor was added on speculation, to be completed when purchased by someone entitled to a coat of arms, and this never happened. It is equally interesting that this copy was fully decorated in distinct ways. The margins throughout the book are replete with elegant small colored pictures of people, flora, fauna, and other objects, more than sixty of which indicate a particular line of text— perhaps favorite verses of an early owner—each bearing a gold leaf. The gold leaves, held in the beaks of birds, the claws of dragons, and so forth, act as elegant finger-posts or manicules" (Grolier/Aldus).

8vo (151 x 93 mm). Italic type, 29 lines plus headline. collation: a–z⁸ A–C⁸: 208 foliated leaves (s8, z8, A8 blank). Woodcut Aldine device on C8v, two- and three-line initial spaces with guide letters, those on 23r and t1r illuminated in gold on a blue field. Opening page of text (a3r) with illuminated border, more than sixty small natural history watercolor drawings functioning as whimsical finger-posts in the margins throughout; see note above. (Title-page soiled, quire a and C1.8 extended, k4.5 evidently supplied from another copy and inlaid, x7 with early repaired tear, some scattered soiling and staining.)

binding: Contemporary Italian black goatskin (160 x 105 mm), covers with border of blind fillets, spine blind-ruled in four compartments, dark blue edges, traces of four pairs of ties. (Extremities rubbed, endpapers renewed.)

provenance: Unidentified owner, who evidently commissioned the drawings of animals throughout pointing to specific lines of verse. acquisition: Purchased from Renzo Rizzi libri antichi, Milan, 1972. references: UCLA 125; Adams P790; Aldo Manuzio Tipografo 127; Edit16 55881; Grolier/Aldus 49 (this copy); Renouard 68/6; USTC 847800; cf. Richardson, "TheVersions of the 'Appendix Aldina' of 1514," in The Library 13 (1991): 115–125; Page, "The Sewers of Paris [What Lies Beneath in the Second Aldine Petrarch, 1514]," in The Chicago Review 59, no. 1/2 (2014–2015): p. 1–10, 11