Luigi Serafini - Codex Seraphinianus - 1981

Title: Codex Seraphinianus (Vol. I and II, complete) — Luigi Serafini
Editor: Franco Maria Ricci (FMR), Milan
Year: 1981 — First edition
Collection: "The Signs of Man"
Presentation: Italo Calvino

First original edition of 1981 of the Codex Seraphinianus, the famous visual encyclopedia of an imaginary world created by Luigi Serafini, written entirely in an invented language and alphabet. A cult work and one of the peaks of Franco Maria Ricci's catalog.

Spanish edition of the prestigious "The Signs of Man" collection, limited and numbered to 4,000 copies. This is copy no. 3811, signed in his own hand by Luigi Serafini on the colophon of the second volume.

Complete and intact set in two volumes (Vol. I, devoted to the natural sciences; Vol. II, to the humanities), which retains the original editor’s letter that accompanied the edition. Bound in black Orient silk with color accoutrements and gilded impressions, with the mounted plate on the cover. Printed on blue handmade vergure paper by Pietro Miliani of Fabriano, with numerous full-color plates mounted throughout. Each volume is housed in its original luxury protective case (cloth and board with the characteristic clover pattern and the Franco Maria Ricci editor’s shield).

Condition: very good. Bright gilding with no wear, plates clean, silks without stains. The cases maintain a uniform black, with no spine discoloration (the area typically damaged by light); only minimal superficial white rubbing marks on the spines, due to use and age. Collector’s set complete and hard to find in this condition.

Pagination in the book’s invented numbering; the indicated number is approximate for the two volumes.

References: ISBN 88-216-0026-2 (Vol. I) + 88-216-0027-0 (Vol. II) · CL 24-0027-8 · Format 23.3 × 35.5 cm (cases 25.3 × 37 cm).

Shipping: insured and with reinforced rigid packaging, given the weight and fragility. Shipping from Spain.