[DANTE ALIGHIERI]. The Divine Comedy. London: George Routledge & Sons, Limited, 1902.
First thus. Vellum-bound. Hardcover. Octavo (195 x 135 x 40 mm.), pp. viii, 760. English text in single and double columns. Contemporary hand-painted vellum binding with bevelled board edges, the upper cover with a large initial "D" incorporating a portrait of Dante, the covers with decorative floral scroll designs in the manner of an illuminated manuscript, elaborate gilt frames, manuscript-style titles to spine and upper cover. All edges gilt and gauffered. Beautiful decorative flora endpapers. Initial and terminal blanks plus half-title present. Portrait frontispiece of translator Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, with tissue-guard. Title-page printed in red and black. Printed by Bradbury, Agnew, & Co. Contents: Inferno - with notes, Canto I-XXXIV; Purgatorio - with notes, Canto I-XXXIII; Paradiso - with notes, Canto I-XXXIII; Index. Condition: GOOD to VERY GOOD. Collated complete. Binding tight and secure, the hinges intact. Covers largely well-preserved with some light rubbing, and marking to the lower board. Marginal staining to frontispiece, the contents otherwise largely very clean and without previous ownership markings. Scarce.
Notes: Period hand-painted vellum bindings are rare and highly collectable. The binding decorations are probably the work of the Giannini family workshop in Florence. It is likely executed by Giulio Giannini (1853-1931), though similar work was carried out by his son Guido (1877-1956) and grandson Giulio Junior (1901-1992).
