Ariosto - Orlando Furioso - 1573

AMORI, TRADITIONS, DUELS AND MAGIC: A GRAPHIC NOVEL ILLUSTRATED BY 51 LARGE WOODCUTS
Splendid illustrated novel: a true graphic novel, complete with the 46 + 5 large full-page wood engravings that illustrate the 46 cantos of the Orlando Furioso and the five additions, in the first edition, rarely bound together, complete.
The work presents the poem "completely corrected" and enriched with new figures, as well as the annotations, the enlargements and the declarations of Girolamo Ruscelli and the observations of Giovan Battista Pigna, among the most authoritative Ariostean interpreters of the era. The inclusion of the Five Cantos and the table of the principles of the chambers confirms the erudite and systematic aim of the edition, conceived for a cultured and scholarly public.
Elegant Venetian marginal and clean edition of the Orlando Furioso, printed in 1573 by Vincenzo Valgrisi.
It represents one of the most significant examples of the editorial fortune of Ariosto’s work in the full Renaissance. The title page, framed by a rich allegorical architecture populated by classical figures, cherubs and caryatids, reflects the ornamental taste of the great Venetian publishing house of the late sixteenth century.
MARKET VALUE
The illustrated Venetian editions of Orlando Furioso from the 16th century, especially those issued by Vincenzo Valgrisi, are consistently sought after by the antiquarian market for the literary importance of the work and for the iconographic quality of the engravings. Complete and well-preserved copies typically fall in a range between €2,500 and €4,000, with variations related to the freshness of the papers, the presence of the figures, and the quality of the binding.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION - COLLECTOR'S COPY
46 + 5 large full-page woodcuts illustrating the 46 cantos of the Furioso and the 5 additions in the first edition. Contemporary limp parchment binding with a manuscript title on the spine; spine browned and with cracks, signs of wear, interesting contemporary notes on the endpapers (to be interpreted), rounded corners. Architectural woodcut title page with the author’s portrait; 51 full-page woodcuts within rich ornamental frames; initials and woodcut borders; printer’s device with a serpent wrapped around a tau and the legend “VINCENT.” Paper with some browning and stains. In old books, with a long history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (2); 16mo; 654; 34mo.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Orlando Furioso.
Venetia, appresso Francesco Vincenzo Valgrisi, 1573.
Ludovico Ariosto.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The definitive edition of the Furioso (1532) had already fixed the canonical text. In the second Venetian half of the 16th century, the work is standardized in the quarto illustrated format, with a large woodcut for each canto, Mannerist borders and apparatus of plates and declarations. Valgrisi, one of the most dynamic Venetian publishers, exploits the iconographic power of the poem, turning the illustrative apparatus into a real reading device. The images synthesize complex episodes – duels, enchantments, escapes, loves – and guide interpretation. The serpent mark, a symbol of prudence and wisdom, becomes the identity seal of the workshop and a guarantee of quality.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Ludovico Ariosto (Reggio Emilia, 1474 – Ferrara, 1533) was a poet and a court official of the Este court. He published the Orlando Furioso in three versions (1516, 1521, 1532), progressively perfecting language and narrative architecture. The poem, a masterful intertwining of irony, heroism and disillusion, exerted a lasting influence on European literature, from Tasso to Romanticism.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
After the early Ferrara and Venetian editions of the early 16th century, the Furioso became one of the titles most reprinted of the century. The Valgrisi workshop, active from the 1550s, consolidated the quarto illustrated model for broad circulation. The 1573 edition belongs to the phase of full maturity of Venetian typography, when the illustrated book achieves a complete balance between text, image and market.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
EDIT16, Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, Venice, Francesco Vincenzo Valgrisi, 1573 (entry to be verified with a specific identifying number); ICCU/OPAC SBN, records relating to the Valgrisi edition 1573; Adams, Catalogue of Books Printed on the Continent of Europe 1501–1600, Ariosto; USTC, Venetian editions of Ariosto, 1573; Mortimer, Harvard Italian 16th Century Books, Ariosto section; Essling, Les livres à figures vénitiens, for the iconographic tradition of the Furioso.