1888 Rare Italian Vellum Book - La Vita Nuova di Dante Allighieri, The New Life.

(Description) 

Author: Dante Alighieri.
Title: La Vita Nuova e il Canzoniere.
Publisher: Firenze, G. Barbèra, Editore, 1888.
Language: Text in Italian.
Size: Small 4" X 2.5".
Pages: xx-477 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good full vellum binding with gilt decorated spine (hinges fine, overall slightly scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. All edges are red.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight, and clean, very rare light foxing - as shown, general light toning of first and last blank pages - as shown, name of a previous owner on the second blank page - as shown).

The book: Very nice and attractive complete Italian edition of THE NEW LIFE - LA VITA NUOVA, in an elegant vellum binding.

La Vita Nuova or Vita Nova (Latin title) is a text by Dante Alighieri published in 1294. It is an expression of the medieval genre of courtly love in a prosimetrum style, a combination of both prose and verse. Referred to by Dante as his libello, or "little book," La Vita Nuova is the first of two collections of verse written by Dante in his life. La Vita Nuova contains 42 brief chapters (31 for Guglielmo Gorni) with commentaries on 25 sonnets, one ballata, and four canzoni; one canzone is left unfinished, interrupted by the death of Beatrice Portinari, Dante's lifelong love.

The author: Durante degli Alighieri simply called Dante (c. 1265 – 1321), was a major Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages. His Divine Comedy, originally called Comedìa (modern Italian: Commedia) and later christened Divina by Boccaccio, is widely considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature. It has been referred to as the greatest poem of the Middle Ages.