NOUVELLES DE BANDELLO. VOLUMES 1 AND 2.
Paris: Imprimerie de Magny-en-Vexin. C. Motteroz, 1879.
First Edition. Hardcover. First French Edition of Romeo and Juliet, limited to 300 copies. Penned by the Italian author, Matteo Bandello and first published in 1554, collecting twenty-one short stories that subsequently formed the basis for many European literary works, notably, Shakespeare's, Romeo and Juliet and Much Ado about Nothing. Originally translated into English in 1562, by Arthur Brook, in his poem, Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet. 16mo. Volume 1, 332 pp. Volume 2, 340 pp. Fine in original marbled paper covered boards with marbled endpapers, teg. One quarter black leather, raised bands with gilt lettering on the spine. Original green silk ribbon markers. Frontispiece portrait of Bandello, including a biography of his life. Front pastedown of both volumes bear the vintage bookplate of Redmond Conyngham, the noted Pennsylvania historian. A truly lovely set.
Item #31753 Price: US$1,440.00