Ariosto, Orlando furioso, Venice, sons of Aldus, 1545, green morocco with gilt Aldine device

ARIOSTO LUDOVICO. Orlando furioso di messer Lodovico Ariosto, et di piu aggiuntovi in fine piu di cinquecento stanze del medesimo auttore, non piu vedute (Cinque canti di un nuovo libro di M. Ludovico Ariosto, i quali seguono la materia del Furioso). Venice: (sons of Aldo Manuzio), 1545

Rare first edition of Ariosto's unfinished continuation of Orlando Furioso, mostly about the betrayal of Charlemagne by Gano. The verses were composed in around 1520 and possibly intended to be incorporated into the main text, though the verses are quite different in tone.

2 parts in one volume, 4to (201 x 145 mm). Italic type, 40 lines plus headline. Collation: A-Z⁸ AA-HH⁸ AAA-CCC⁸ DDD⁴: 276 leaves. Woodcut Aldine device on title-pages and final verso of each section. (Foot of title-page missing and restored, A2 with restored strip at head of leaf, CCC7 remargined, cut close at head with a few headlines shaved, probably washed and pressed.)

Binding: Nineteenth-century olive green morocco gilt with Aldine device stamped in gilt on covers (207 x 154 mm), spine gilt in compartments, gilt edges

Provenance: George M. Fortescue (1791-1877), gilt booklabel — Christie, Manson & Woods, sale of Aldine Press books, 24 March 1971, lot 136, £220. Acquisition: Purchased from Christie's sale. References: UCLA 334; Edit16 2638; Renouard 133/13