La Divina Commedia
At first sight this may appear as simply another early book, with limp vellum binding and one of many Dante printings. Yet it neatly encapsulates much of the visual interest of early books.
La Divina Commedia (RB 5095.2) was issued by the Accademia della Crusca, the most famous of Italian literary academies. It was founded in Florence in 1582-83 to conserve the beauty of the Florentine tongue.
The title page features the woodcut device of the Accademia, a sifter, a metaphor for separating the (linguistic) chaff from the wheat. The motto reads “Il più bel fior ne coglie,” which translates as “He picks the most beautiful flower."
A larger version appears at the end, with a cat standing on its hind legs operating the sifter, symbolising the collaboration between the Accademia and the cat-loving printer Domenico Manzani.
- Manzani's printer device
- Bookplate of Sir Charles Nicholson
Manzani's printer device (a crouching cat holding a mouse) is above the colophon, with other cats appearing throughout. Also featured are emblematic initials, incorporating the mottoes of the academicians.
The Library's copy has the bookplate of University Chancellor and donor Sir Charles Nicholson (1808-1903) and label of the Earl of Westmorland, 1856. There is also a somewhat unclear inscription on the title page.
The copy is not perfect, however, as it is missing the folded plate and pages 175-176.
- Binding
- Paradisio
- Inferno
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