Alle faustissime nozze della nobil donzella M. Francesca Cosi del Vollia col nobil si. cav. March. Antonio Viviani

Lucca: Dalla tipografia Bertini, 1826. Original edition. Fine. Octavo (22 cm), xiv, [1 blank] pages. Printed on wove paper with Bodoni-style type. In stiff plain paste-paper boards. Remarkable fresh and fine.

A collection of epithalamia for the wedding of Francesca Cosi del Vollia to the noted engraver Antonio Viviani in the city of Lucca. The collection opens with a sonnet by Lucca's most famous poet, Teresa Bandettini, who had settled in her home town after years on the road. Bandettini had achieved something like rock-star status for her performances of improvised poetry and dance in the salons and theaters of the peninsula. Inducted into the Academmia degli Arcadi, she signs her sonnet here with her Arcadian name, Amarilli Etrusca. See my recent article on Bandettini and other improvisational poets on my web site or on the website of the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies.