Doni / Petrarca - Zucca del Doni - 1552

PETRARCA AND HIS SATIRICAL PORTRAIT, PARADOXES AND FOLLIES IN THE MOST ECCENTRIC LABORATORY OF ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
Rare Venetian edition of one of Anton Francesco Doni’s most original and extravagant works, a central figure in sixteenth-century Italian literary culture. Particularly striking in this exemplar is the presence of Francesco Petrarca, accompanied by his woodcut portrait on the verso of the title page, an element of strong iconographic and bibliophilic interest.
The Fruits of the Pumpkin constitute the sixth and final part of the famous Pumpkin of Doni, a collection of dialogues, witticisms, moral reflections, literary inventions, and paradoxes that perfectly embody the author’s anticonformist spirit. Through lively and experimental prose, Doni builds an universe populated by quirky characters, biting observations, and intellectual games. The work stands as one of the most significant examples of satirical, paradoxical, and humorous literature of the Italian Renaissance.

REASONS FOR COLLECTING
1. RARITY OF THE FIFTEENTH-CENTURY – Venetian edition of 1552 printed by Francesco Marcolini, a leading figure in the great illustrated Venetian publishing world.
2. PETRARCA AND HIS PORTRAIT – Of particular charm is the presence of Francesco Petrarca and his woodcut portrait, placed on the verso of the title page.
3. LAST PART OF THE ZUCCA – The Fruits constitute the VI and final part of Doni’s famous literary cycle.
4. WOODCUT APPARATUS – Notable title page within an elaborate figured and architectural frame, Petrarca’s portrait, and the final wood-engraved printer’s mark.

MARKET VALUE
Original fifteenth- and sixteenth-century editions of Anton Francesco Doni’s works are sought after by collectors of Renaissance literature, the history of printing, and Venetian culture. The individual parts of the Zucca, when preserved separately, hold particular interest. The presence of Petrarca’s woodcut portrait, together with the imposing Marcolini-frontispiece, enhances the bibliographical and iconographic appeal of the exemplar.
For an exemplar of this edition, in comparable condition, a rough commercial range of €700–1,500 can be indicated, with higher values for copies especially fresh, complete, and with significant provenance.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Venice, Francesco Marcolini, 1552. Binding in eighteenth-century card binding with parchment spine. The frontispiece is set within a richly elaborate architectural and allegorical woodcut frame. On the verso of the title page is the woodcut portrait of Francesco Petrarca. There are signs of handwriting inked paragraph marks and a wood-engraved printer’s mark on the verso of the last leaf.
The frontispiece is slightly trimmed at the lower edge; some natural foxing. Overall, a highly charming exemplar, enhanced by the woodcut apparatus and the Petrarchan presence. Collation: pp. (2); 174; (2).
In old books with a multi-century history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing contains AI visualizations. Please refer to the original photographs to verify the actual conditions of the object. The images are an integral part of the description.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Anton Francesco Doni. Frutti della Zucca del Doni. Parte VI soltanto (di VI). CON PRESENZA DI FRANCESCO PETRARCA E RITRATTO XILOGRAFICO DI PETRARCA. Vinegia, per Francesco Marcolini, 1552.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The Zucca is one of the most singular creations of Italian literature of the sixteenth century. Through a deliberately free and fragmentary structure, Doni gathers stories, moral observations, social satires, dialogues, witticisms, and erudite curiosities, offering an ironic and often corrosive portrait of contemporary society.
The Fruits of the Zucca represents the conclusion of this vast literary laboratory and synthesizes its fundamental characteristics: a taste for paradox, critique of conventions, linguistic experimentation, and a continual oscillation between serious and playful. Of particular interest is the allusion to Petrarca, strengthened physically by the presence of his woodcut portrait: an element that links Doni’s sixteenth-century experimentation to the great Italian vernacular literary tradition.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Anton Francesco Doni (1513–1574) was a writer, translator, editor, and intellectual among the most original of the Italian Renaissance. Born in Florence, he operated mainly in Venice, where he connected with some of the era’s leading literary and typographic circles. Renowned for his polemical and anticonformist spirit, he published satirical works, dialogues, letters, and moral tracts, developing a writing style characterized by continual formal experimentation and the use of paradox.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The work was printed in 1552 by Francesco Marcolini, one of the most refined and innovative printers-editors active in Renaissance Venice. The Fruits of the Zucca makes up the sixth and final book of the Zucca of Doni and circulated separately from the entire oeuvre.
Of particular note in this edition is the woodcut apparatus: the monumental figurative frontispiece, the final printer’s mark, and especially Petrarca’s portrait, which gives the exemplar additional appeal for iconographic and Petrarchan collecting.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
EDIT16, CNCE 17687.
ICCU / OPAC SBN, census of the Venice edition, Marcolini, 1552.
Mortimer, Harvard College Library, Italian 16th Century Books, no. 164, related work.
Adams, Catalogue of Books Printed on the Continent of Europe, D-730.
British Library Catalogue, editions of Anton Francesco Doni.
WorldCat, Frutti della Zucca del Doni.
Gamba, Serie dei Testi di Lingua, references to Doni’s works.
Graesse, Trésor de Livres Rares, II, p. 417.
Brunet, Manuel du Libraire, II, col. 742.