Alchemical Hands in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili

er in their cavities glowingly spelled these words. Only two letters were visible on the front, joined with an embellishment elegantly made from gold. Thereafter, the letters went three by three on the other sides, saying: ΩΣΠΕΡΣΠΙΝθΗΡΚΗΛΗθΜΟΣ.40 (G 360-61) Why would he only note one epitaph, and this at the end of Book 1, when the HP has a wealth of epitaphs in which one would expect that he would take an interest? He passes over the HP’s graveyard of lost loves, or Polyandrion (q2v- ...

er in their cavities glowingly spelled these words. Only two letters were visible on the front, joined with an embellishment elegantly made from gold. Thereafter, the letters went three by three on the other sides, saying: ΩΣΠΕΡΣΠΙΝθΗΡΚΗΛΗθΜΟΣ.40 (G 360-61) Why would he only note one epitaph, and this at the end of Book 1, when the HP has a wealth of epitaphs in which one would expect that he would take an interest? He passes over the HP’s graveyard of lost loves, or Polyandrion (q2v- ...

220 An understanding of the basis of these transitions as due to the practicalities of working with material texts may go a way towards explaining other awkward transition points in the HP. Poliphilo sees one, then another, with similar ‘awkward seams’ between them. For example, in the Polyandrion sequence (p5v-r4r), Poliphilo encounters a field littered with mock-epigraphs. These inscriptions all relate to the theme of lost love, but the transitions between them are not entirely logic...