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Dante Alighieri - Divine Comedy, 1487

Dante Alighieri (Florence, 1265 - 1321, Ravenna)

Comedy of the Divine Florentine poet Danthe Aleghieri [Comedia del Divino poeta fiorentino Danthe Aleghieri], 1487

Printed ink on paper , 37.2 x 26 x 5.2 cm (14 5/8 x 10 1/4 x 2 1/16 in.)

Commentary


This edition of the Divine Comedy is illustrated throughout with a series of woodcuts inspired by Baldini's engravings after Botticelli. The borders around the woodcuts are made up of white-lined designs of strapwork and grotesque figures on a black ground, a woodcut style and technique used frequently by Venetian illustrators. The added illuminated borders and capital letters in bright pigments and gold leaf are opulent touches borrowed from the manuscript tradition, and are not uncommon in early printed books. This volume was once owned by John Ruskin, an avid student of the art of the book.