[METASTASIO, Pietro, and Alessandro BARBOSI ( translator ).] Avviso strasordinario de una cummedia de tre atti che se chiama gnente de meno che la Didona der Metastazzio gran poeta romano.

£1,750 · Offered by Henry Sotheran Ltd

Dido in Dialect [METASTASIO, Pietro, and Alessandro BARBOSI ( translator ).] Avviso strasordinario de una cummedia de tre atti che se chiama gnente de meno che la Didona der Metastazzio gran poeta romano. Rome: 'A la Stamparia ar Curso n. 336' . 1838. 8vo. In the publisher’s printed self-wrappers, title within typographic border, woodcut angel within typographic border to rear cover, upper cover lettered ‘Treato Palaccorda Carnoval 1838’; slight foxing to title; small marginal paperflaws to 2 ff., variable marginal spotting to last 5 ff.; else very well preserved. First edition, extremely rare, of this lively programme in Romanesco, or Roman dialect, issued for the 3 February 1838 Carnival performance of La Didona , an adaptation in Romanesco of Metastasio’s 1724 Didone abbandonata . The opera is thought to have been translated into Romanesco by the poet and abbot Alessandro Barbosi. This anonymously authored programme, advertising the opera as being in the ‘Roman language of Trastevere’ ( trans. ), was to be distributed at the box office (‘dar buteghino de la cummedia’) at Rome’s Teatro della Pallacorda on the night of the opera, staged back-to-back with a prequel by Luigi Randanini, Un teatro drento na casa ciovè er provemio de la commedia , also in Romanesco. Our programme, which encourages viewers to attend both showings if they can, provides an engaging and colloquial summary of the context of the play, glowing reviews of the set design, and a blow-by-blow account of the

• Binding: Hardcover

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.