Ludovico. Il Negromante, comedia … tratta dallo esemplare di man propria dell’Autore.

by ARIOSTO

£950 · Offered by Henry Sotheran Ltd

ARIOSTO, Ludovico. Il Negromante, comedia … tratta dallo esemplare di man propria dell’Autore. Venice: Gabriele Giolito de’ Ferrari . 1551. 12mo. Early 19th-century English half calf, roll-tooled in blind, spine with raised bands, tooled in blind and lettered directly in gilt; ff. 43, [1]; woodcut printer’s device to recto of first and final leaf, woodcut initials and ornaments; extremities a little worn, hinges cracked but hold firm, head of spine chipped; a few small stains but otherwise a very good, crisp copy; armorial bookplate of Samuel R. Block to front pastedown, his ownership signature in ink to title page. First edition, the final and definitive “Ferrara” version, of Ariosto’s first comedy in verse and his “most problematic work for the stage” (Portner). Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533), best known today for his epic poem Orlando furioso , was also the author of five comedies. Following the successful staging of his comedy I Suppositi in the Vatican during the 1519 Carnival, he was commissioned by Pope Leo X to write a new play. Il Negromante (The Necromancer) was sent to Rome on 16 January 1520, however its planned Roman premiere never took place; the pope, instead, chose to stage Niccolò Machiavelli’s La Mandragola . The most likely reason for the play’s cancellation was its veiled yet pointed critique of Leo X and the Vatican, particularly regarding the sale of indulgences and clerical corruption. While Ariosto’s wit was tolerated in other settings, a performance of

• Binding: Hardcover

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