1693 Scarce Italian Poetry Book - Rime Spirituali by Vittoria Colonna, Naples

Author: Vittoria Colonna, Marchesa di Pescara. Edited by Antonio Bulifon.
Title: Rime Spirituali di M. Vittoria Colonna d’Avalos, Marchesana di Pescara.
Publisher: In Napoli, Presso Antonio Bulifon, 1693.
Language: Text in Italian. 
Size: 6" x 3.5".
Pages: 112 pages + index.
Binding: Very good contemporary limp vellum binding with yapp edges, titled in manuscript to the spine (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing or staining - as shown, general toning to pages, lower corner of 2 pages chipped without affecting the text - as shown).
Illustrations: Includes a fine copper-engraved portrait of the author, decorative headpieces, a printer’s device on the title, and a woodcut ornament at the end of one poem. The fine engraved printer’s device on the verso facing the opening poem, bearing the Italian proverb "Chi non rischia non rosica"—a vivid allegorical image of a rat and trap, underscoring the Renaissance theme of moral risk and reward. This emblem adds both historical interest and bibliophilic appeal to the edition.

Estimate: (USD 500–650).

The book: A rare and significant posthumous 17th-century edition of Rime Spirituali by the great Renaissance noblewoman and poet Vittoria Colonna. Issued by the distinguished Neapolitan printer Antonio Bulifon, who was instrumental in the re-publication and dissemination of works by early modern Italian women. This edition is dedicated to Laurenza Lacerda, Duchess of Tagliacozzo and Princess of Palliano, a testament to the continued aristocratic appreciation for Colonna’s spiritually charged and stylistically elegant poetry. An excellent example of late-Baroque Neapolitan printing, finely preserved in its original vellum binding.

The author: Vittoria Colonna (1490–1547), Marchesa di Pescara, was one of the most celebrated female poets of the Italian Renaissance and a close friend and spiritual confidante of Michelangelo. Her religious and lyrical verse gained her lasting renown, with Rime Spirituali reflecting her later life devotion to spiritual contemplation and reformist thought. Her role in Renaissance humanist circles and her contributions to the evolution of Italian poetry mark her as a pioneering figure in early modern women’s literature.