Ariosto and Tasso in Lunigiana. Castiglione del Terziere, the Editions of 16th-Century Poems and a Letter from Alfonso I to Ariosto

Abstract

This paper presents the editions of Sixteenth-century poems preserved in the library of the castle of Castiglione del Terziere. Within this corpus it is possible to identify three focuses: the editions of Orlando furioso and other works by Ariosto; the editions of other chivalric poems, showing the articulation of the genre between the end of the Fifteenth-century and the second half of the Sixteenth-century; and finally, the numerous editions of Gerusalemme liberata and other works by Tasso. Indeed, it is precisely the collection of works by Tasso – which includes in particular the first editions, illustrated editions and vernacular translations of the Liberata – that constitutes one of the most important aspects of Loris Jacopo Bononi’s book collection.