THE TRIUMPHS OF FRANCESCO PETRARCH

Cambridge, Massachusetts: Printed for Little, Brown and Company, Boston, by the University Press, 1906. No. 90 OF 200 COPIES (100 for the U.S., 100 for England). 324 x 233 mm. (12 3/4 x 9 1/4"). [76] leaves. Translated by Henry Boyd. With Introduction by Guido Biagi and Notes on the Engravings by Sidney Colvin.
HANDSOME RUSSET MOROCCO, BLIND-STAMPED IN 15TH CENTURY STYLE, covers with outer frame of knotwork design, inner frame of putti stamps, central panel of interlocking circles, raised bands, gilt lettering to one panel, edges untrimmed, the majority UNOPENED. Housed in a (somewhat worn) felt-lined russet cloth clamshell box, leather label on spine. With six large burnished gold initials and six plates reproducing 15th century Florentine engravings, all with tissue guards. Printed in blue and black in Humanistic Type patented in American and registered in England. Orcutt, In Quest of the Perfect Book, pp. 16-30. Very faint offsetting from illustrations, but a fine, unread copy with virtually no signs of wear.

This is a particularly attractive Arts & Crafts homage to 15th century Italian humanism, featuring an elegant retrospective binding, shining gold initials, and the first appearance of a custom font. As the genesis for our volume, type designer William Dana Orcutt (1870-1953) was inspired to create a font based on the 1485 manuscript Virgil attributed to Antonio Sinibaldi in the Laurentian Library, Florence, which he described as "the apotheosis of the art" of hand lettering. He set about designing the present work as a vehicle for that type, enlisting the director of the Laurentian Library, Guido Biagi (1855-1925), and the keeper of prints and drawings at the British Museum, Sidney Colvin (1845-1927), to assist him. The text is that of Petrarch's "Triumphs" ("I Trionfi"), an epic poem in six allegories, in English translation by Irish clergyman Henry Boyd (ca. 1750-1832). It is illustrated with engravings after a 15th century series in the collection of the British Museum, in which each of the successive triumphs is personified and mounted on a chariot. Every deluxe detail indicates the thought that went into this elegant production: the elaborately blind-stamped binding was done in a luxurious 15th century style, each section of the poem begins with a burnished gold initial, and, most importantly, the text is set in Orcutt's exclusively designed font. This remarkable production seems not to appear in the marketplace with great frequency: we trace five copies at auction since 1993, and can find no online listings at present..