Beschreibung:

DANTE ALIGHIERI (1265-1321). [ Divina Commedia :] Dante col sito, et forma dell'inferno . [Toscolano:] Alessandro Paganino Benacenses, [c.1525].
DANTE ALIGHIERI (1265-1321). [ Divina Commedia :] Dante col sito, et forma dell'inferno . [Toscolano:] Alessandro Paganino Benacenses, [c.1525]. 8° (156 x 89mm). With blanks l1 and H7. Roman and italic types. Double-page woodcut showing Jerusalem at top and the descent through purgatory and hell, and 2 full-page diagrams of hell and purgatory. (Two passages deleted by censor in 1585, small marginal wormholes repaired in first 3 and last leaves.) Contemporary Venetian red goatskin over thin pasteboard BY THE 'FUGGER BINDER' FOR DIEGO HURTADO DE MENDOZA; panelled sides tooled in gilt with open and solid foliate tools, front cover with author's name in central roundel, back cover with painted arms of Hurtado de Mendoza, spine with 3 double and 4 single bands tooled in gilt, compartments with blind foliate decoration, edges gilt and gauffered, fore-edge lettered in black 'el infierno', top edge lettered 'Dante no. 61' (missing 4 pairs of ties, head of spine with light cracking and small loss, tiny restorations at corners, small loss of paint); modern morocco box. Provenance : Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (1503/04-1575) -- censor's note dated 7 July 1585, Medinaceli [Dukes of Medinaceli were kinsmen], two passages deleted -- [Gumuchian cat. 27, no. 54 -- Martin Breslauer cat. 102, no. 41; sold to an English collector; by descent to the present owner]. FROM THE RENAISSANCE LIBRARY OF DIEGO HURTADO DE MENDOZA, Spanish nobleman, diplomat, and one of the most important bibliophiles of his age. Sent to Venice as ambassador of Emperor Charles V in 1539, Hurtado de Mendoza embarked on building a library for Spain to rival that being assembled for Francis I at Fountainebleau. He amassed a significant collection of Greek manuscripts as well as printed books; made his library available to scholars and encouraged study and publication; tutored his younger contemporary Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle in the art and joys of bibliophilia; and commissioned bindings from the best craftsman of his day, including the Fugger Binder as here, and the Mendoza Binder, so-called for his illustrious patron. Responding to pressure from Philip II, King of Spain, Hurtado de Mendoza bequeathed his library in its entirety to the King and it remains today in the Escorial. BOOKS FROM HURTADO DE MENDOZA'S LIBRARY ARE VERY RARE OUTSIDE THE ESCORIAL. None has appeared in Anglo-American auctions in over 30 years and the last offered in the trade dates from Breslauer catalogue 106 (an 'extensively restored' Machiavelli). For a library that rivalled Grolier's in its contemporary fame, its modern reputation is not as popularly known largely because its books so rarely appear on the market. Cf. T.K. Brooker, 'Paolo Manutio's use of fore-edge titles for presentation copies (1540-1541)', Book Collector , 1997, 27-68, 193-209, esp. 204-5; Hobson, Renaissance Book Collecting , appendix 8, 32; Adams D-91; Brunet II, 502. Visit www.christies.com for further information