COLONNA Francesco Hypnerotomachia Poliphili.

Goff, C-767; Renouard, p.21, 5; B.M.C., V, 561; Essling, I,2.2, 1198; G.W., 7223; Hain-Copinger, 5501; Sander, I, 365.

Édition originale. 

Le très célèbre Songe de Poliphile est une sorte de roman d’amour allégorique, rédigé dans un curieux mélange d’italien et de latin, d’un style raffiné et plein d’artifices. Francesco Colonna (1433-1527), entré très jeune dans l’ordre de Saint-Dominique, tente d’exprimer, dans une attitude chère aux humanistes, la conscience aiguë de la splendeur de la vie, comme le souligne le titre Hypnerotomachia, qui signifie le combat du sommeil et de l’amour. Le goût de la Renaissance pour l’Antiquité apparaît à travers ses descriptions de palais somptueusement décorés, entourés de jardins extraordinaires. 

« The reconciliation of heterogeneous literary, philosophical or religious elements belonging to different cultures and a syncretistic integration (Pettazzoni 1934: 24 ff.) of different cultural and intellectual experiences, which is characteristic of the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern area, dates back to antiquity. These tendencies, taken up by 15th-century philosophers and men of letters, manifested themselves in Francesco Colonna’s work, which Renaissance scholars unanimously consider the most beautiful book ever written and certainly the most famous of the time. Published in Venice in 1499, in the workshop of Aldo Manuzio, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili belongs to the rarest and most precious of incunabula: adorned with splendid engravings by an unknown artist, it contains the text arranged in a refined graphic form and is distinguished by a harmonious distribution of silographs and letters printed with elegant characters, engraved by Francesco Griffo himself. It is the most original and heteronomous work of the second half of the 15th century. The book, written by a humanist of great wisdom and prodigious memory, creates a universal philosophical-artistic vision that becomes a testimony to the legacy of a culture that had changed Europe: ancient and present worlds mingle, Christianity does not exist without Greek, Latin without Hebrew and Arabic, and all cultures influence each other. Arabic language and writing became one of the foundations of humanistic culture and acquired a place alongside Latin and Greek: it was a philological conquest of the intellectuals of the 15th century who broadened their studies and directed their research towards the Eastern world and traditions. The phenomenon takes on particular importance when Giovanni Pico della Mirandola expresses the project of a reconciliation of conflicting but collectable testamentary writings and Marsilo Ficino proposes a doctrinal comparison between the Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions » (Anna Klimkiewicz, Uniwersytet Jagielloñski w Krakowi, in : The Syncretic Culture in Hypnerotomachia Poliphili by Francesco Colonna).

 « The action of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili takes place in a dream. The books opens on the hero, Poliphilo, who has spent a restless night because his beloved, Polia, has shunned him. At the break of day, he finally falls into a deep slumber and his « Hypnerotomachia, » or, as it can be roughly translated, « struggle for love in a dream, » begins. Poliphilo is transported into a wild forest. He gets lost, escapes, and falls asleep once more. He then awakens in a second dream, dreamed inside the first. Within it, he is taken by some nymphs to meet their queen. There he is asked to declare his love for Polia, which he does. He is then directed by two nymphs to three gates. He chooses the third, and there he discovers his beloved. They are taken by some more nymphs to a temple to be engaged. Along the way they come across no less than five triumphal processions celebrating the union of the lovers. Then they are taken to the island of Cythera by barge, with Cupid as the boatswain; there they see another triumphal procession celebrating their union. The narrative is uninterrupted, and a second voice takes over, as Polia describes the erotomachia from her own point of view. They are blissfully wed, but Polia vanishes into thin air as Poliphilo is about to take her into his arms. » (L. Lefaivre, Leon Battista Alberti’s Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, 1997. The MIT Press). 

Chef d’œuvre typographique d’Alde Manuce et sans aucun doute un des plus beaux livres illustrés de tous les temps. 

L’illustration comprend cent soixante dix superbes gravures sur bois, dont une dizaine à pleine page. Cette iconographie a été, depuis plus de cinq siècles, l’objet des attributions les plus variées. Les noms de Bellini et de Mantegna ayant été d’abord proposés, c’est à Benedetto Bordone de Padoue que les chercheurs attribuent de nos jours ces gravures. 

« Sans doute parce que le sujet lui convenait, l’illustrateur, quel qu’il fut, produisit un chef-d’oeuvre sans égal, où texte et image s’intégraient parfaitement. Arches, temples, vases, sculptures, inscriptions, chars de triomphe correspondaient admirablement aux descriptions de l’auteur, avec en plus une sorte de verve qui donnait au livre entier son brio… C’était une plongée sensuelle dans les splendeurs ressuscitées du passé païen » (M. Lowry, Le Monde d’Alde Manuce). 

« As regards the authorship of the wonderful illustrations, the signature b. on the third has led to their being attributed to numerous celebrated artists » (A.W. Pollard). 

Ce livre « a exercé une influence considérable, non seulement sur l’esthétique du livre à cette époque mais aussi dans les multiples applications de l’art décoratif. » (Brun) 

Très bon exempalire avec la gravure de Priapus en bel état