Creator
Pietro Aretino
Title
Lo Hipocrito, comedia
Publisher
No printer [but Venice: Francesco Marcolini]
Date
1542
Description
The core of anyone’s library in the 16th century would, as today, have been contemporary literature. One of the most enjoyable areas that I have discovered and explored whilst collecting is that. The greatest and most popular writer in Italy of the mid 16th century was Pietro Aretino. He has been described as the First Modern and was probably the first writer to make money solely from his pen as well as being the forerunner of modern journalism, the creator of the craze for publishing letters, and the author some quite ground-breaking plays. This is the first edition of his comedy Lo Hipocrito. The frontispiece is based on a portrait of him by his great friend Titian.
Source
From the collection of Paul Stallebrass