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Francesco Colonna
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Price: $25.00
Sale Price: $18.75
The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (The Strife of Love in a Dream) is generally considered to be the finest illustrated book of the Renaissance – some might even describe it as the first artist’s book. Its woodcuts are beautiful and can stand by themselves, the printing is remarkably handsome and executed by the leading scholar-printer of the age (Aldus Manutius), and the text – composed in a distinctive compound of Latin and Italian, with scraps of Arabic, Greek, and Hebrew – is one that remains open to a fascinating range of interpretations, both worldly and esoteric. Much effort has been expended to unravel the identity of the anonymous author of this etherial romance: it is traditionally attributed to a Dominican monk, Francesco Colonna, whose name may be found in an acrostic formed by the initial letters of each chapter. The possibility that additional messages lay encoded in the work offers grounds for particular attention to the original edition, here reproduced with unprecedented fidelity and detail. Even a casual reader may discover in the text fascinating traces of Neoplatonism as well as a quasi-pagan eroticism. Although the philological and cryptographic dimensions of theHypnerotomachia offers the greatest intellectual challenge today, it is nonetheless as the quintessential illustrated book that it has achieved immortality. It has perhaps the longest continuous history of bibliophilic reverence of any printed book, exceeding even that of the Gutenberg Bible, and had no rival in its genre until Bonnard and Picasso.
Features:
-Commentary by Nicolas Barker, editor of The Book Collectorand retired Head of Conservation, British Library
-Essay on architecture in theHypnerotomachiaby Ian White
-Magnify up to 300%
Specifications:
-Digital images of every page of this rare book, cover to cover, in full color, presented as uncropped spreads
-Print and Thumbnails files for creating printed references
-PDF file on CD-ROM with all of Adobe Reader’s viewing, navigation, and search features
-Octavo Digital Guide and Help files
Requirements:
- Adobe Reader 5.0 or later
- Windows PC with Pentium processor running Windows 95 or later
- Macintosh Power Mac running OS 9.2, or OS X 10.1 or later. Linux 2.2 kernel on X86 computer
- Color Monitor (15" or larger, capable of displaying millions of colors recommended)
- CD-ROM drive
The original book imaged for this digital edition: 12 7/8 x 8 3/4 inches (327 x 222 mm)
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