Torquato Tasso — La Gerusalemme Liberata

Firenze, Presso Il Magheri, 1823. Leather. Two smartly bound volumes containing the epic poem Gerusalemme Liberata from Italian poet Torquato Tasso, in the original Italian. Italian. Complete in two volumes. With a portrait frontispiece to volume one. An epic poem first published in 1581, that tells a largely imaginative and mythical version of the First Crusade in which Christian knights, led by Godfrey of Bouillon, battle Muslims in order to take Jerusalem. This work held topical resonance to readers of the period, as the Ottoman Empire was advancing through Eastern Europe. The poem was widely successful with sections or moments from the story used in works all over Europe, especially in the period before the French Revolution and the Romantic movement. Written by Torquato Tasso, an Italian poet of the sixteenth century, best known for this work. His work was widely translated and adapted, and he died just a few days before he was to be crowned on the Capitoline Hill as the king of poets by Pope Clement VIII. Bound in full calf. Externally, smart with light rubbing to the extremities and the odd small mark to the boards. Small cracks to the joints at the head and tail of the spines. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are very bright with the odd small spot or handling mark. Very Good . Ill.: None. Very Good .