Hypnerotomachia Poliphili: The Strife of Love in a Dream

(Paperback)

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Exactly 500 years after its first publication by the great Venetian printing house Aldus Manutius, Francesco Colonna's weird, erotic, allegorical antiquarian tale, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, was translated into English and reprinted in full, together with all of its 174 original - and enchanting - woodcut illustrations. It is one of the most important documents of Renaissance imagination and fantasy, and its woodcuts are a primary source for Renaissance ideas on both buildings and gardens. This translation was first published in 1999 in a large format that exactly matched the original in size, design and typography. This new, smaller paperback edition retains all the text and illustrations and is easy to handle and read. Long prized by bibliophiles, pored over by generations of scholars, this classic book may now gain the wider audience its melancholy genius merits.

Reviews

"'Joscelyn Godwin, whose translation is a masterpiece of clarity and scholarship, has achieved something truly remarkable with this beautiful edition. It is unquestionably one of the publishing events not just of the year but of the century' - Andrew Graham-Dixon, The Daily Telegraph; 'A mammoth task of inestimable value, carried out with learning, elegance and wit' - International Herald Tribune; 'An extraordinary and exceptional book' - The Architects' Journal; 'Adds a fresh dimension to our understanding of the Renaissance' - The Times; 'Joscelyn Godwin has proven that a desiccated rose can not only live again, but may also, with the help of fantasy, grow vivid as never before' - The New York Review of Books; 'Should undoubtedly find a place in every serious English-speaking academic library' - The Art Book"

Author Bio

Exactly 500 years after its first publication by the great Venetian printing house Aldus Manutius, Francesco Colonna's weird, erotic, allegorical antiquarian tale, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, was translated into English and reprinted in full, together with all of its 174 original - and enchanting - woodcut illustrations