La Faoniade.

'Sappho'; Imperiale (Giovanni Vincenzo)

La Faoniade.

Inni ed odi tradotti dal testo greco in metro italiano da S[osare] I[tomeio] P[astore] A[rcade, i.e. G. V. Imperiale].

Description: wide margins; very faint diminishing water stain at the head of the first and last few leaves, smudge to the title and a few fingerprints elsewhere, but withal a very attractive copy; pp. xv, [1], small 8vo; nineteenth-century binding of full smooth indigo leather, gilt pannelled and tooled, spine gilt on raised bands, gilt edges; front joint and boards a little scuffed, scratch to the upper cover, withal a very attractive copy.

Publication Details: [Colophon:] Crisopoli [Parma], Bodoniani, 1792

Notes: The first edition produced using Bodoni type (first edition Naples 1780-86), this is an attractive volume of poems, spuriously attributed to Sappho, by the Neapolitan general, Vincenzo Maria Imperiale, prince of Francavilla (1738-1816). La Faoniade is presented 'as a translation of a previously unknown work by Sappho, newly discovered in true Ossianic fashion by 'the famous Russian scholar Ossur,' who was visiting Cape Leukas and found some papyri in a stone box. When Imperiale presents what he claims to be 'the only complete work we have of Saffo' (xv), he is attempting to replace the Sappho ...moreThe first edition produced using Bodoni type (first edition Naples 1780-86), this is an attractive volume of poems, spuriously attributed to Sappho, by the Neapolitan general, Vincenzo Maria Imperiale, prince of Francavilla (1738-1816). La Faoniade is presented 'as a translation of a previously unknown work by Sappho, newly discovered in true Ossianic fashion by 'the famous Russian scholar Ossur,' who was visiting Cape Leukas and found some papyri in a stone box. When Imperiale presents what he claims to be 'the only complete work we have of Saffo' (xv), he is attempting to replace the Sappho corpus with a 'faoniade', an epic poem to the glories of Aphrodite's fickle boatman. The Faoniade is actually a collection of poems, all of them about Sappho's love for Phaon, 'hymns' addressed less frequently to the gods than to the physical beauty of the perfect young male' (See: Joan DeJean, Fictions of Sappho, 1546-1937, Chicago: 1989). HIDE

Bibliography: (Brooks 459)

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Price: £975

Subject: Literature

Published Date: 1792

Stock Number: 73148

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