Lisbon, Na Officina de Miguel Deslandes, 1682.. First Edition in Portuguese. 4¡, mid-nineteenth-century tan tree sheep (slight wear; a few other very minor defects), spine gilt with slightly raised bands in four compartments, red leather lettering piece in second compartment from head, gilt letter, gilt date at foot, marbled endleaves, text-block edges blotched red. Woodcut floral vignette on title page. Woodcut headpieces, tailpieces, and initials. Numerous typographical headpieces. Engraved title backed. Single small round wormhole in lower blank margin of first 20 leaves and the two plates. Minor dampstains in margins of last few leaves. Overall in good conditon. Ink note on verso of engraved title: "Raro e classico // Custou 2:600 // Porto 1867 // A.J.R. Pereira". Also, in green ink on verso of title page: "V. 3:000 / AJR Pereira // 1867 Porto". Engraved added title, engraved frontispiece with sonnet at center, (16 ll.), 659 pp. In some copies p. 239 is incorrectly numbered 236; here it is numbered correctly. *** First Edition in Portuguese, and the Only Edition of the present translation: a classic and rare translation of this exceedingly popular text. Rare in any form, few copies appear with both the engraved title and frontispiece. In the present copy, the engraved frontispiece is bound after the title page. The translation itself, by Andr Rodrigues de Mattos, stands as an important contribution to Portuguese literature. Following the dedication to the Grand Duke of Tuscany (*2r-v) is a prologue to the reader, in which Rodrigues de Mattos praises Tasso's work and notes the difficulties of translating verse into verse, and a lengthy explanation of the allegorical meaning of the poem (**2r-***2r). Preliminary leaves ***2v-****2r contain numerous poems to Rodrigues de Mattos: by Bernardo Pereira da Sylva, an epigram in Latin and one in Portuguese; by Antonio Luis Azevedo, 3 epigrams in Latin; by Manuel de Pina, 2 epigrams in Latin; by Joo Pereira da Sylva, an epigram in Latin, 2 sonnets in Portuguese and an epigram in Italian composed of lines taken from Tasso's original; by Andre Nunes da Sylva, a sonnet in Portuguese; by Troilo de Vasconcellos da Cunha, an epigram in Portuguese; and an anonymous epigram in Latin. The approvao by the Jesuit P. Francisco da Cruz (****2v-****3r) gives high praise to the translation, which Rodrigues de Mattos acknowledged with a sonnet in Portuguese immediately following. The final preliminary leaf has errata (including a stanza inadvertently dropped from the seventh Canto), and the interesting note that a stanza from Canto 16 ("E i famelici sguardi avidamente") was omitted from the translation "propter bonos mores," because if it had been included the entire work might have been kept from publication. The engraved title has in the center a view of Jerusalem flanked by salomonic columns. Above are the arms of Cosmo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, with Jerusalem being enslaved by "Aladin" on one side, and being liberated by "Godfred" on the other. Below, putti support a banner with the title. Following the title page is an engraved leaf with a sonnet on Tasso (unsigned) in a heart-shaped cartouche surrounded by putti, shells and cornucopia, and surmounted by the Grand Duke's arms. Both the engravings are signed by Clemens Billingue (ca. 1660 to after 1716). Soares considers him proficient but not inspired: "um artista operoso, correcto por vezes nos delineamentos, mas desprezando qusi por completo as expresses das suas figuras ... um abridor de profisso e nunca um artista entusiasta pela sua arte." *** Arouca T4. Innocncio I, 68. Barbosa Machado 1, 171 (giving incorrect date of publication of 1688). Palau 328203. Pinto de Mattos p. 547. Soares, Histria da gravura artstica em Portugal n¼ 321 and I, 127-31. Cunha Impresses deslandesianas pp. 199-220. Gonalves Rodrigues A traduo em Portugal 350 (without mention of the plates). Biblioteca Central da Marinha, Catlogo dos obras impressas no sc. XVII 855. Goldsmith, Short Title Catalogue of Spanish and Portuguese Books 1601-1700 in the Library of the British Museum T42. HSA p. 551. Santa Casa da Misericrdia de Lisboa, Catlogo das obras Impressas no sculo XVII: tipografia portuguesa 280. Palha 1152: an imperfect copy, lacking the engravings. Azambuja 2547 (appears to lack the engraved title). Monteverde 5298. Ameal 2358. Avila-Perez 7537. Not in Azevedo-Samodes. Porbase locates four copies: two in the Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal (one with serious worming and shaved, affecting the text, the other [with p. 239 incorrectly numbered] also with serious worming and shaved, lacking the engraved title), and one each in the Biblioteca Central da Marinha and the Biblioteca Joo Paulo II-Universidade Catlica Portuguesa (without mention of either plate). Jisc repeats British Library and Cambridge University only. NUC: MH, PU.
