Il Petrarca

16mo, 400 pp., (8) ff.
Black morocco with compartments, compartments and arabesques, blue, red, green and white mosaic, gilded rising lion in the center of the covers, smooth spine with alternating latticework and horizontal foliage decoration, fillet on the edges, gilt edges. Contemporary binding.

121 x 70 mm.

Petrarch, Francesco. Il Petrarca.
Lyon, Giovan di Tournes, 1545.

First Italian edition of Petrarch published by Jean de Tournes.

And the first published in France, excepting the Aldine counterfeits issued in Lyon around 1502 and 1508.
Brunet, IV, 550.

“Lovely edition, the first by this poet to be published by Jean de Tournes. […] It is quite sought after, and rarely are fine copies encountered” (Brunet).

“It is very rare” (Graesse).

From the middle of the 16th century, Jean de Tournes and his competitor Guillaume Rouillé published handy and small-format editions of Italian authors. Benefiting from a large Italian readership, they also contributed to the spread and learning of the Italian language in France.

From 1545 onward, Jean de Tournes and Guillaume Rouillé issued in Lyon nine editions of the Canzoniere and the Trionfi under the title: Il Petrarca. Printed in Italian in a handy format, they are the only complete editions of the works of the Tuscan poet to have been printed in Italian in France in the 16th century, apart from two editions of the Cose volgari printed at the beginning of the century in Lyon.

This edition is dedicated to Maurice Scève (the dedication is in Italian), with two engravings relating to the discovery of the tomb and the finding of Laura’s relics: at the beginning of August 1533, the future author of the Délie (1544, the first great French “canzoniere”), believed he had discovered the tomb of Petrarch’s beloved in one of the chapels of the Saint-Francis convent. Francis I, who was mad about Petrarch and held him in genuine veneration, is said to have composed, following Scève, an epitaph (in French) in honor of Madonna Laura, which is reproduced in our edition.

“A man of the 14th century, Petrarch may be regarded as one of the major writers of Renaissance letters. […] Thus one may without exaggeration define the 16th century as the Petrarchan age of the Petrarchan book” (Dictionnaire des Lettres françaises, The 16th Century).

“Already cited as a reference by all the literati of his time, Petrarch became a myth at the dawn of the Renaissance. […] The discovery of the supposed tomb of Laura by the poet Maurice Scève was one of the striking episodes of this widespread enthusiasm, which would not subside in the following decades” (N. Ducimetière, Mignonne, allons voir…, no. 1)

“Petrarch, the beacon of the literary culture of his time, a master who decisively shaped the taste and life of the Renaissance” (Dictionary of Authors).

Superb and precious ruled copy, preserved in its contemporary decorated morocco binding.

Provenance: from the libraries of Lignerolles (catalogue 1894, no. 1451) and Maurice Burrus, with ex-libris.