Definitive, Illustrated Edition of I Promessi Sposi, Bound in New York, With Two Other Editions

Alessandro Manzoni. I PROMESSI SPOSI. STORIA MILANESE DEL SECOLO XVII SCOPERTA E RIFATTA. Milan: Guglielmini e Redaelli, 1840. Revised (by the author) and illustrated edition. Hardcover. Half green morocco, raised bands and gilt on spine, marbled edges and endpapers. 4to; 864pp. Text in Italian. With Storia della Colonna Infame, frontispiece with "NEW-YORK, ROE LOCKWOOD & SON," title page vignette, and numerous illustrations throughout by Francesco Gonin. (Boards extremely worn; lower board with backstrip separated from upper board with all completely detached from textblock; boards lightly scuffed, leather rubbed especially at corners, spine rubbed with losses at head and tail and headband chipped, lower board and backstrip completely separated from textblock with upper board only loosely attached; former ownership signatures on free flyleaf including the Rocheford Cassidy's of Albany, NY; pages with toning at endpapers and edges, with scattered foxing and occasional small stain; several leaves with very light damp staining.)

lot also includes:

Alessandro Manzoni; Cesare Cantù I PROMESSI SPOSI DI ALESSANDRO MANZONI STORIA MILANESE DEL SECOLO XVII CON ILLUSTRAZIONI TRATTE DALLA STORIA LOMBARDA DI CESARE CANTÙ. Naples: Dalla Tipografia della Fenice, 1838. Half bound over purple-brown boards, patterned endpapers. 8vo; 623 (of 637?)pp. With portrait frontispiece, title vignette, plates and illustrations, bound with Manzoni's Il Conte di Carmagnola. Text in double columns, in Italian. (Boards scuffed, corners bumped, light rubbing at spine and joints, cracking at hinges and minor separation from textblock with binding very sturdy; pages with foxing, light toning, and occasional fraying, folds, small tear, grime, and small damp stains at margins; p. 35 and following (2) pages possibly a cancel, one plate loose, pages 169-176 bound upside down.)

Alessandro Manzoni. I PROMESSI SPOSI STORIA MILANESE DEL SECOLO XVII SCOPERTA E RIFATTA DA ALESSANDRO MANZONI TERZA EDIZIONE DELL' AUTORE. STORIA DELLA COLONNA INFAME SECONDA EDIZIONE DELL' AUTORE. 2 vols. (complete). Milan: Dalla Tipografia di Giuseppe Redaelli, 1845. 3rd ed., 2nd ed. Half calf over marbled paper boards, with labels, gilt and raised bands on spine, all edges speckled. 12mo; 390pp. [4] pages of ads; 414pp. With half-titles and title page vignettes. Text in Italian. (Sturdy boards with corners rubbed, spines lightly scuffed with heads rubbed; cracking at front hinges, endpapers scuffed with bookplate on paste-downs; pages with light toning, foxing, occasional small stain.)
Largest 10 7/8 x 8 in.
Alessandro Manzoni's famous Italian novel, I Promessi Sposi, or The Betrothed, was first published in 1827, but this 1840 revised and illustrated edition is considered the foremost version and one of the several "first" editions of this novel. Manzoni's Storia della Colonna Infame was first published here at the end of this edition.

Francesco Gonin was an Italian painter and printmaker, best known for his illustrations for Manzoni's work as well as his frescoes for several buildings in Italy.
From the Collection of Professor Roberto Severino, Washington, D.C.
Additional high-resolution photos are available at www.lelandlittle.com