The Fables of Aesop. Printed from the Veronese edition of MCCCCLXXIX in Latin verses and the Italian version by Accio Zucco,
Verona: Officina Bodoni, 1973. Three volumes. 6 1/2 x 10. 280; 122 pages; 68 woodcuts in b&w. The Latin text is illustrated with 68 woodcuts stencil-colored by Daniel Jacomet, Paris, after a copy in the British Library. Laid in slip lists the woodcuts. Green morocco spines, vellum sides gilt with a Renaissance-stye border. Fine special set in lightly worn slipcase. With prospectuses. Item #15004
No. 4 of 30 special copies, "printed especially for scholarly purposes." Volume Two is Caxton's English translation. Volume Three presents the 68 woodcuts printed on rectos only, in black and white. This copy was printed for James Laughlin (American pooet and publisher), with a printed leaf bound into each volume so noting. A Mardersteig masterpiece. Here he recreates the rare and beautiful 1479 edition of Giovanni Alvise, Verona. The original illustrations have been re-engraved by Anna Bramanti. Jacomet’s coloring of them is jewel-like. In his note, Mardersteig attributes the 68 woodcuts to the Veronese miniaturist Liberale. "It needed a great master to create woodcuts with so many vivid scenes, conceived from the outset as linear black-and-white designs that were given atmosphere and life by colour." Comparing Liberale's known miniatures with British Museum copy of Alvise's Aesop, Mardersteig finds "such similarities in composition, movements, gestures, garments, and colouring that only Liberale can be considered the artist." In addition to printing one of the finest Illustrated Italian books of the 15th century, Alvise was also the first printer to use typographic ornaments cast in lead. These too have been recut for the OB edition. Printed in Centaur type on dampened handmade Magnani paper watermarked with a goose (as in the original edition). Schmoller 182. A Century for the Century 78.
Provenance: James Laughlin.
Price: $15,000.00