The Early Florentine Woodcut and Federico Frezzi's 'Il Quadriregio' of 1508 (offprint from: Federico Frezzi, 'Il Quadriregio' facsimile)
London: Roxburghe Club, 1998. First Edition. Large 4to. 22 pp., photocopy of the title-page of the Roxburghe publication loosely inserted. Original green wrappers (faintly creased on lower wrapper; ink inscription on p. 1). Very good. Item #3175
Bernard Breslauer's perceptive analysis of the masterpiece of Florentine woodcut books, Frezzi's "Quadriregio" (The Four Realms) of 1508, which is in its own way equal to the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (Venice: Aldus Manutius, 1499). This strange and wonderful novel and its illustrated are contextualized here with BHB's thoughtful assessment of the history of Florentine book illustration; a discussion on Piero Pacini (the publisher); and the amazed reception of "Il Quariregio" over a period of 500 years. That Breslauer's article is too-little known is due to the fact that very limited press-run of Roxburghe Club publications.
Price: $50.00