Ariosto - Orlando Furioso - 1587

RIDDLES AND IMPOSSIBLE LOVES, INFATUATED LADIES, FURIOUS KNIGHTS, MAGIC AND BATTLES
51 SILK-ENGRAVINGS FOR THE GREATEST CHIVALRIC POEM OF EUROPEAN LITERATURE
Magnificent Venetian edition illustrated by no fewer than 51 full-page wood engravings, one of the most spectacular sixteenth-century editorial interpretations of Orlando Furioso. Printed in Venice by Valgrisi and Bonelli in 1587, it belongs to the great tradition that transformed Ludovico Ariosto’s masterpiece into one of the most read, loved, and illustrated books of the European Renaissance. The images, traditionally associated with the artistic milieu of Dosso Dossi, accompany the reader through the narrative labyrinth of the poem, inhabited by wandering knights, enamored ladies, enchanted castles, battles, monsters, wizards, and fantastical journeys. The elegant contemporary parchment binding with gold-tooled spine and red sprinkled edges further enhances the charm of the exemplar, which unites literary importance, iconographic value, and material quality in one of the most fascinating illustrated editions of Ariosto published in the fifteenth century.
REASONS FOR COLLECTING
• 51 large full-page wood engravings.
• One of the richest sixteenth-century illustrated editions of the Furioso.
• Contemporary parchment binding with gold title and red edges.
• Absolute masterpiece of Italian and European literature.

MARKET VALUE
Sixteenth-century illustrated editions of Orlando Furioso occupy a position of absolute prestige in the international market for rare books. Complete copies with the large wood engravings and preserved in an old binding are particularly sought after by collectors of Italian literature as well as scholars of Renaissance illustration history. Copies in good condition generally command prices between €4,000 and €12,000, with higher quotations for particularly fresh, complete specimens with illustrious provenance.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Contemporary full parchment binding with gold-tooled spine and red sprinkled edges. Collation: [16], 654, [32] pages. Illustrated title page with a woodcut portrait of Ludovico Ariosto. Accompanied by 51 large full-page wood engravings traditionally attributed to the Dosso Dossi artistic milieu. Skillful restoration at the white margin of the final leaves. A remarkably present exemplar with good overall preservation, particularly attractive for iconographic completeness and binding quality.
In ancient books with a multigenerational history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Lodovico Ariosto.
Orlando Furioso.
Venice, Valgrisi and Bonelli, 1587.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Published in its definitive form in 1532, Orlando Furioso represents the absolute pinnacle of Renaissance chivalric poetry and one of the highest monuments of European literature. Ariosto takes up the narrative material of Orlando Innamorato by Matteo Maria Boiardo and transforms it into a literary construction of extraordinary complexity, in which wars between Christians and Saracens, love passions, heroic feats, magic, and fantastic journeys intertwine.
The adventures of Orlando going mad for love of Angelica, of Ruggiero and Bradamante, of the wizard Atlante, and of Astolfo who reaches the Moon constitute some of the most famous episodes of the entire Western literary tradition. The open and constantly shifting narrative structure of the poem, paired with the author’s refined irony, represents one of the deepest innovations of Renaissance culture.
The illustrated apparatus of this edition is of particular importance. The 51 large full-page engravings do not merely decorate the text but build a true visual pathway through the major episodes of the poem, helping to fix in European imagination the figures and scenes that have made Ariosto’s work immortal.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Lodovico Ariosto (1474-1533), born in Reggio Emilia and active at the Este court of Ferrara, is universally regarded as one of the greatest poets of Western literature. A diplomat, administrator, and courtly man, he dedicated much of his life to revising Orlando Furioso, refining it through several redactions. His influence on European literature was immense and extended well beyond the Renaissance, influencing writers, artists, and musicians for centuries. The combination of imagination, stylistic elegance, irony, and psychological depth makes his work one of the highest expressions of Italian culture.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Orlando Furioso enjoyed extraordinary diffusion already during the author’s lifetime. After the famous editions of 1516, 1521, and 1532, the poem was reprinted countless times and translated into the major European languages. Venice played a decisive role in its editorial fortune, producing some of the most important illustrated editions of the sixteenth century.

The Valgrisi and Bonelli edition of 1587 belongs to the full maturity of Ariosto’s editorial tradition. The rich iconographic apparatus derives from a long figurative tradition that contributed decisively to the work’s popularity, making its protagonists and its most famous episodes instantly recognizable to European audiences.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE WORK
Orlando Furioso is much more than a chivalric poem. It is a universal reflection on human nature, desire, madness, love, and fortune. Through an almost infinite network of intertwined tales, Ariosto builds a narrative universe in which the marvelous and the real continually coexist. For five centuries the poem has influenced literature, the visual arts, theater, and music, becoming one of the pillars of European culture.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
EDIT16, CNCE 3157.
ICCU / OPAC SBN, census of copies of the 1587 Venetian edition.
USTC, Universal Short Title Catalogue.
Agnelli-Ravegnani, Annali delle edizioni ariostee.
Catalano, Vita di Ludovico Ariosto.
Rajna, Le fonti dell'Orlando Furioso.
Brunet, Manuel du Libraire, I, coll. 472-476.
Graesse, Trésor de Livres Rares et Précieux, I, p. 208.
Mortimer, Harvard Italian Books, Ariosto section.
British Library Catalogue.
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Catalogue Général.
WorldCat, international census of preserved copies.
Ascarelli-Menato, La tipografia del Cinquecento in Italia.
Albert Russell Ascoli, Ariosto's Bitter Harmony.
Daniel Javitch, Proclaiming a Classic: The Canonization of Orlando Furioso.