SCARCE COUNTERFEIT OF THE ALDINE EDITION OF DANTE’S «DIVINE COMEDY», PRINTED BY PAGANINO WITH THE RENOWNED ITALIC TYPE DISCOVERED BY ALDUS

DANTE. Dante col sito et forma dell’Inferno. [Toscolano, Paganino and Alessandro Paganini, ca. 1527].

8vo (156x95 mm), French contemporary full calf binding with blind-tooled frames with floral elemnets to both covers, rebacked, ff. (248). Italic type.

4 large woodcut pictures, taken from the Aldine edition of 1515. The first, on two pages, represents the Hell’s topography, the second and the third the Hell’s Circles and the fourth those of the Purgatory.

At verso of the last leaf, the famous device-subscription used by Alessandro Paganino Benacensis, from Toscolano near the Garda Lake (Latin name, Benacus).

SCARCE COUNTERFEIT OF THE ALDINE EDITION OF DANTE’S «DIVINE COMEDY», PRINTED BY ALESSANDRO PAGANINO IN ITALIC TYPE.

Since no date appears on this book, there have been many philological discussions about this edition. On his Annali delle edizioni dantesche, Giuliano Mambelli quotes the different opinions of the scholars, part of which affirm that this would be a counterfeit of the Aldine of 1502, part that it follows the 1515 edition. At the moment, the second theory sustained by Witte and Barbi is considered more reliable, due to a detailed comparison of the text and the presence of the same illustrations of 1515 Dante in Paganino’s edition. Luigi Lechi, who studied deeply Paganino’s works, dated this printing back to 1527.

DANTE ALIGHIERI (1265-1321) is one of the most renowned poets of Italian literature, CONSIDERED TOGETHER WITH FRANCESCO PETRARCA AND GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO THE FATHER OF THE MODERN ITALIAN LANGUAGE. He belonged to the Florentine minor aristocracy and was educated at the Franciscan and Domenican schools, studying philosophy and teology. Friend to the stilnovist poets, due to his critical opinions towards the papacy he was forced to leave Florence and live exiled for the rest of his life. He wrote Latin and Italian works, entering the number of the world classics’ masters with his Comedia, successfully defined Divina by Boccaccio. Among Dante’s other compositions there are Vita Nova, Convivio, De Monarchia and De vulgari eloquenza, the latter on the dignity of vernacular as litery language. He also wrote many famous poems, being one of the heads of the Italian poetic movement of the Dolce Stil Novo (namely, the Sweet New Style), that combined the exaltation of love with a refined religious feeling.

REFERENCES: Mambelli, n. 21; Olschki, Monumenta Typographica, cat. LIII (1903), n. 651: «impression fort rare, qu’on dit une contrefaçon de l’édition aldine de 1502»; Sander, 2318. For more information about Paganino’s printings, see L. LECHI, Della tipografia bresciana nel secolo XV, Brescia, 1854.

Binding slightly worn and spine rebacked, minor traces of use, but a very good copy.