1729 ❧ BOCCACCIO, GIOVANNI. 1313-1375. Il Decamerone di M. Giovanni Boccaccio nuovamente corretto et con diligentia stampato. [Venice: Pasinello for Stefano Orlandelli at the expense of Salvatore Ferrari and Joseph Smith, 1729]. 4to (236 x 166 mm). Title with Giunta fleur-de-lis printer's mark flanked by putti and the motto Nil Candidius, repeating at the end on leaf 284 verso; text printed in a crisp italic type, running titles printed in roman capitals. Title page with light waterstaining to upper edge, scattered light foxing and occasional small spots. Contemporary Italian vellum, morocco lettering pieces gilt. Vellum with honey-toned patina, light handling smudges. Provenance: Possibly Count Girolamo d'Adda (1815-1881) (bookplate); Marion and Rudolf Gottfried, (bookplate); T. Kimball Brooker (bookplate). 18th-century Venice counterfeit edition, a meticulous line-by-line facsimile of the 1527 Giunta Ventisettana edition, commissioned by the British Consul Joseph Smith. The Ventisettana, the original 1527 Giunta edition of Boccaccio's Decameron stood as the definitive, uncorrupted linguistic model for early Italian prose. However, because many copies were destroyed during the Sack of Rome or subsequently suppressed by ecclesiastical censorship, the original edition had become virtually unprocurable by the 18th century. To satisfy the intense demands of contemporary Enlightenment bibliophiles, Joseph Smith (1682-1770), British Consul at Venice, renowned patron, and obsessive book collector, financed this edition in 1729. Edited by Salvatore Ferrari and meticulously executed line-by-line in an edition of approximately 300 copies, it remains one of the most famous and collectible typographic counterfeits in printing history. This 1729 edition is instantly distinguished from the 1527 original by a subtle typographic correction on the final text leaf (leaf 284 recto): the printer corrected the famous true Giunta typo 'ststampato' to read 'Impresso en Firenze...'. Errors in pagination in the original were also, probably inadvertently, corrected. Adams B-2147; ; Bacchi della Lega, p. 36; Brunet I: 999; Graesse I, 440. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing