Benvenuto Cellini / Salvador Dalí - Autobiography - 1948

Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) – The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini – 1948

Reich illustrated American edition of the famous autobiography of the Italian Renaissance artist Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1571), with 16 full-page color illustrations by Salvador Dalí as well as numerous additional black-and-white drawings.

Published in 1948 by Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, in the English translation by John Addington Symonds.

Special features of this edition

The 16 full-page color plates based on Dalí’s 1945 illustrations form the artistic highlight of the book. Dalí combines historical scenes from Cellini’s eventful life with surreal worlds, fantastical figures, Renaissance architecture, and religious symbols.

The color illustrations are also offered separately in art and antiquarian book trade as historical book plates. The present book, however, preserves the entire sequence of 16 color plates in their original context with the literary work and the numerous black-and-white illustrations.

Bibliographical information

* Author: Benvenuto Cellini
* Artist: Salvador Dalí
* Translation: John Addington Symonds
* Publisher: Doubleday & Company, Inc.
* Place of publication: Garden City, New York
* Year of publication: 1948
* Edition: First regular trade edition with Dalí’s illustrations
* Language: English
* Contents: 16 full-page color plates as well as numerous black-and-white illustrations

Condition

Age-related signs of wear and paper discoloration. The photographed color plates show a beautiful color impression. The overall condition is to be assessed based on the extensive photographs.

An attractive bibliophilic edition for collectors of Salvador Dalí, surrealist art, and illustrated books of the 20th century.

The sale is made from my private collection with exclusion of warranty for material defects insofar as legally permissible. The exclusion does not apply to cases of willful concealment of defects or to warranties explicitly assumed, as well as to liabilities mandated by law.

The book is offered in the condition documented in the numerous photographs. The photographs are part of the item description. Age-related signs of wear should be considered for a historical edition from 1948.