Alchemical Hands in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili

Why It Matters for the Hypnerotomachia

The second Aldine edition reused the 1499 text with new woodcut blocks. The BL copy in this project (C.60.o.12) is a 1545 edition, which complicates folio-to-image matching since the signature map is based on the 1499 collation.

Why It Matters in Scholarship

Priki (2009) documents differences between the 1499 and 1545 editions as part of the HP's reception history. The existence of a second Aldine edition demonstrates sustained commercial demand for the HP in the mid-sixteenth century.

Key Passages / Evidence

• <!-- Page 9 --> apart from the few that needed to be replaced because of loss or damage. He could simply set the new edition from the old one. Comparison of the 1499 and 1545 editions of... [Word_Image_2015_apr_03_vol_31_iss_2_Farrington_Lynne_Though_I_could_lead_a_quiet]
• <!-- Page 7 --> CROSSING THE TEXT/IMAGE BOUNDARY 343 body of the book is an imitation of the Jean Martin edition following the exact opposite principle whereby the image atempts to elucidate... [Priki (text-image boundary)]
• ... following is a short overview of editions of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili in other languages through 1600. It is not surprising that the French were the first to publish a translation of this... [Word_Image_2015_apr_03_vol_31_iss_2_Farrington_Lynne_Though_I_could_lead_a_quiet]

Source Documents

Lefaivre 1997 (Alberti attribution); Priki (text-image boundary); Priki 2009 (reception); Russell 2014 (PhD thesis); The_Modern_Language_Review_1955_jan_vol_50_iss_1_Francon_Marcel_Francesco_Colonn; Trippe 2002 (text-image); Untangling_the_knot_Garden_design_in_Francesco_Colonna_s_Hypnerotomachia_Poliphi; Word_Image_1998_jan_vol_14_iss_1_2_Hunt_John_Dixon_Experiencing_gardens_in_the_H; Word_Image_2015_apr_03_vol_31_iss_2_Farrington_Lynne_Though_I_could_lead_a_quiet