Dante Alighieri - La Divina Commedia - 1898

For sale: a gem of late nineteenth-century Italian publishing—the famous edition “Vade Mecum” of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, published in Florence by G. Barbèra in 1898, as stated on the title page.

It is the renowned 'microscopic' edition, designed with the ambitious aim of creating one of the smallest editions in the world readable to the naked eye, without the aid of lenses. An authentic masterpiece of late 19th-century microtypesetting, composed with extremely small movable type, a testament to extraordinary technical and typographic craftsmanship.

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Main features
• Year: 1898 (date shown on the title page).
• Publisher: G. Barbèra, Florence.
• Dimensions: approximately 40 × 60 mm, in miniature format.
• Binding: original in full-grain leather, with rich ornamentation and gold titles on the front board and on the spine.
• Interior: frontispiece with a red portrait of Dante and a historical preface about the edition.

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Condition

An example in excellent overall condition for its era.
The gilded decorations are still vivid and bright; the binding is solid, the pages are intact, and the original stitching holds perfectly. A small miracle of preservation, considering the volume’s almost 130 years of age.

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A touch of history

The volume features a beautiful period handwritten dedication, dated Christmas 1901, in which the Collegio Filetico of Ferentino donates the book as a merit prize to a young student.
A highly fascinating detail that gives the piece a unique historical and collectible value, certifying its era and its original cultural function.

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Collectible interest

An indispensable piece for bibliophiles, collectors of Dantesque works, and lovers of miniature books, capable of uniting literary value, editorial quality, typographical rarity, and historical significance.

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Note to interested parties

Since the number of photos in the listing is limited, additional images of the back, which is perfectly intact, and of the thumbnail held in hand are available to better appreciate their actual proportions. The extra images can be sent upon request via messages.