Alexander Pope - L’Uomo del Pope - 1788

[Please note that the background setting in some images was created using AI to present the books in a pleasant environment. These background elements do not alter or affect the true representation and condition of the books]

POPE IN VENICE: The “Essay on Man” in the Rare Italian Version of 1788
A suggestive seventeenth-century Venetian edition of Alexander Pope’s celebrated philosophical poem dedicated to the nature and fate of man. Originally published in London in 1733–1734, the Essay on Man became one of the most influential philosophical-literary texts of the European Enlightenment. This Italian version testifies to Pope’s extraordinary fortune in eighteenth-century Italy and to the circulation of Enlightenment ideas through translation. A work of great interest for collections devoted to the Enlightenment, English literature, and its Italian reception.

ABSTRACT
Italian version of the Essay on Man, one of Alexander Pope’s most famous texts and one of the fundamental poetic-philosophical works of the European eighteenth century. Originally structured in four epistles, the poem examines the position of man in the universe, the relationship between reason and passions, the nature of happiness, and the providential order of creation. Behind the elegance of the verse lies an ambitious philosophical reflection that contributed enormously to Pope’s continental fame. The principle that man, unable to comprehend the total design of the universal scheme, must recognize the limits of his own knowledge is especially well known. The 1788 Venetian edition represents an interesting testimony to the Italian diffusion of these ideas on the eve of the French Revolution.

MARKET VALUE
The eighteenth-century Italian translations of Pope constitute an interesting collecting field, especially when preserved in contemporary binding and in good condition, but they typically command lower prices than the first English editions. For this 1788 Venetian edition, a complete copy can reasonably be placed in the €300–450 range, with possible increases in the presence of particularly fresh paper, significant provenance, fine bindings, or superior binding quality.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Old binding in marbleized card hardcover with some stains and surface wear. Pages with some browning and physiological foxing. Copy partially in gashes (in-line: barber?). In old books, with a centuries-long history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing contains AI Visualizations. The images are an integral part of the description. Pp. (2); 144; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
The man of Pope.
At the colophon: It is available from booksellers Storti and Foglierini in Venice, 1788.
Pope, Alexander.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Published anonymously in four epistles between 1733 and 1734, An Essay on Man represents one of the most important texts in eighteenth-century English philosophical-literary culture. Pope aims to investigate the position of the human being within the universal order. Man occupies an intermediate condition: endowed with reason but unable to fully comprehend the design of creation, suspended between intellectual grandeur and fragility. The poem engages with some of the central questions of eighteenth-century philosophy: reason, nature, providence, free will, happiness, and the limits of human knowledge. Its influence was enormous and rapidly international. The text circulated through numerous French, Italian, German, and other European translations, becoming an integral part of the Enlightenment debate. Its reception in France was particularly significant: Voltaire deeply admired Pope, helping to disseminate his reputation across the continent. The 1788 Venetian edition should be read precisely within this European circulation of ideas.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Alexander Pope (1688–1744) was one of the greatest English poets of the eighteenth century and a central figure of the Augustan age of British literature. Born in London to a Catholic family, he was largely excluded from the official educational system due to restrictions imposed on English Catholics. He thus built an extraordinary literary culture largely on his own. He quickly rose to fame with the Essay on Criticism and, above all, with The Rape of the Lock, a brilliant masterpiece of English satirical poetry. His monumental translation of the Iliad and later the Odyssey earned him fame and financial independence. With An Essay on Man, Pope directly confronted the great philosophical questions of his time, producing a work capable of reaching a European audience well beyond the confines of English poetry.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The first epistle of the Essay on Man appeared anonymously in London in 1733; the subsequent ones were published between 1733 and 1734. The success was rapid, and the poem saw numerous editions and translations. Italian circulation of the work developed throughout the eighteenth century through different versions, adaptations, and reprints, entering the lively Venetian publishing market. This edition bears the colophon: “In Venezia: si trova vendibile dai librai Storti e Foglierini, 1788.” The particular editorial formulation—“si trova vendibile”—is noteworthy: it identifies Storti and Foglierini as booksellers where the volume was marketed, without necessarily attributing the typographic imprint to them. This element must be faithfully preserved in antiquarian cataloging. The edition also falls at a historically significant moment: 1788, just a year before the start of the French Revolution, when the European debate on the nature of man, reason, and social order had reached extraordinary intensity.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Pope, Alexander. An Essay on Man. London, 1733–1734. Original edition of the work, indispensable reference for reconstructing the genesis and subsequent European diffusion of the text.

Griffith, Reginald H. Bibliography of Alexander Pope’s Works. Essential reference for the study of original editions and the complex editorial history of the poet’s works.

British Library. The library collections constitute one of the main international references for Pope’s editions and for the bibliographic history of the Essay on Man.

ICCU – SBN. Essential for census of eighteenth-century Italian editions and translations of Pope and for locating copies held in Italian libraries.

WorldCat. International catalog useful for verifying the diffusion of different translations and editions of the work in European and North American libraries.

ESTC – English Short Title Catalogue. Essential repertoire for studying eighteenth-century British editions of Pope and the early circulation of the Essay on Man.

Historical catalogs of Venetian publishing in the eighteenth century. Useful for deepening the commercial activity of the booksellers Storti and Foglierini and establishing more precise bibliographic characteristics of the 1788 edition.

Bibliographies and studies on the Italian fortune of Alexander Pope. The Italian reception of the author constitutes a significant chapter in the diffusion of English literary Enlightenment in continental Europe.