A unique copy of a medieval masterpiece
BOCCACCIO, Giovanni. La Fiammetta … per messer Tizzone Gaetano di Pofi novamente revista. [Toscolano Maderno; (colophon:) Paganino Paganini and Alessandro Paganini.] [c. 1527-1533.]
8vo. Contemporary black morocco, boards tooled in gilt and blind to a panelled design, with fleuron centre-pieces, and star, moon, and floral corner-pieces, wanting ties, spine with raised bands, ruled in blind, gilt gauffered edges, in a red cloth slipcase; ff. 107, [1], italic type, initials supplied in ink; hinges and spine ends expertly repaired, extremities slightly worn, boards and spine lightly rubbed and cracked; some light water-staining to upper corner, occasional light spots, possibly later flyleaves; early ink ownership inscriptions “Ego Jo. Antonius Culletus hunc emit et possidet de anno 1574 die 7 7embris, …” to title, and “Jo. Antonius Culletus hunc emit et possidet de anno 1573 die 8 7mbris” to final recto; 19th-century inscription “Per Alessandro Paganino in Tuscolano terra presso il lago di Benaco. Brunet = manuel du libraire…” to final verso; “Hodgson’s 17/ii/1954, lot 463. £3/10/-” and “Collated & perfect, Graham Pollard 4/iii/1954” in pencil to rear pastedown (see below).
Third edition, very rare, of Gaetano Tizzone’s version of Elegia di Madonna Fiammetta by Giovanni Boccaccio, one of the first psychological novels and a landmark in feminist literature, this copy beautifully preserved in an elegant contemporary binding.
Written by Boccaccio between 1343 and 1344, Elegia di Madonna Fiammetta (The Elegy of Lady Fiammetta) takes the form of a first-person confessional monologue. Lady Fiammetta recounts her ill-fated love affair with Panfilo, a Florentine merchant, whom she encountered in Naples. Comprising a prologue and nine chapters, the novel’s first edition was printed in 1472. In recent years, the work has been recognised as the first psychological novel in a modern language, heralding the stream-of-consciousness narrative style, with Lady Fiammetta increasingly viewed as a bold and outspoken feminist voice rather than a pathetic victim of male callousness.
Gaetano Tizzone (fl. 1490-1530), a diplomat and editor from Pofi near Frosinone, is known for his vernacular revisions of Boccaccio’s works, with La Fiammetta being the first. His extensive revisions modernised the text, conforming to the grammatical and stylistic principles set forth by Giovanni Francesco Fortunio and Pietro Bembo. Tizzone’s work was driven by both market considerations – adapting the text to suit the nascent book trade – and a desire to align it with contemporary literary tastes, resulting in a simplified and more accessible narrative. The book was dedicated to Dorotea Gonzaga (1485-1538), a noblewoman whose husband’s family, the Acquaviva, Tizzone served. Through his connection to Dorotea, Tizzone likely undertook diplomatic missions for the Gonzaga family and participated in the rich intellectual life of the Gonzaga court at Gazzuolo, near Mantua.
Tizzone’s edition of La Fiammetta was first published in 1524 (Venice: Bernardino Vitale), followed by a second edition in 1525 (Venice: Gregorio de Gregorii). This third edition was printed by Paganino Paganini (c. 1450-1538), a renowned Venetian printer who later relocated to Toscolano Maderno on Lake Garda’s western shore. Paganini and his son famously published the first printed edition of the Quran in Arabic between 1537 and 1538. The elegant italic typeface used in this edition of La Fiammetta was inspired by the groundbreaking italic font introduced by Aldus Manutius in 1501.
Provenance: From the library of Henry Graham Pollard (1903-1976), British bibliographer, antiquarian bookseller, and MI5 spy.
Very rare: no copies traced in the US; 2 in the UK (BL and Warwick).
EDIT16 CNCE 6250; BM STC It. P. 108; Brunet I 1009; not in Adams. See Montanile, “TIZZONE, Gaetano”, DBI, online; Causa-Steindler and Mauch (editors and translators), The Elegy of Lady Fiammetta by Giovanni Boccaccio (Chicago University Press, 1990).
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