Dante Alighieri

Dante con l'espositione di Christophoro Landino, et di Alessandro Vellutello, sopra la sua Comedia.

first Sansovino edition, woodcut portrait of Dante on title-page, woodcut initials, illustrations and cartouches, title-page slightly foxed with small paper repair at foredge, paper fault I3at foreedge and paperfault at BB3 tear with slight loss of text at head of page, some leaves lightly browned or foxed, last leaf slightly creased, later 18^th century olive morocco with arms of Prince Salm-Salm and of the Society of Writers to the Signet to upper and lower covers, a.e.g., joints cracked, spine ends chipped with small loss, paper description and bookplate tipped-on to front paste-down, folio, Venice: (Domenico Nicolini for) Giovanni Battista and Melchiorre Sessa & fratelli, 1564

*** This edition combines the two great commentaries on Dante, those by Cristoforo Landino , [1481] and Alessandro Vellutello [1544]. The portrait of Dante is new to this edition and the woodblocks are from the 1544 Marcolin edition which would also be used in later Sessa editions of 1578 and 1596.

Provenance: Prince Ludwig Karl Otto zu Salm (1721-1778), arms on binding; Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet, Edinburgh, sale, Sotheby's, 11 April 1960, lot 1143, bought by A.G. Thomas for PS24; Clifford Baylis, bookplate; by family descent.