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La Vita Nuova (1916)

Illustrated by Evelyn Paul

 

 

 

On the left, we show a rare copy of La Vita Nuova

produced by George Harrap & Co. (London) in 1916.

 

This copy shows the original decorative Evelyn Paul

design to the cover inspired by polychromatic

Medieval manuscripts.

 

Translated by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, this edition

includes illustrations and exquisite decorations in the

style of Medieval illuminated manuscripts by Evelyn Paul.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

To the right, we show Evelyn Paul's illumination for the introduction to La Vita Nuova. It is presented in a style reminiscent of Medieval illuminated manuscripts.

The introduction reads as follows:

In that part of the book of my memory before the which is little that can be read, there is a rubric, saying, Incipit vita nova. Here beginneth the New Life.

Under such rubric I find written many things; among the the words which I propose to copy into this little book; if not all of them, at the least their substance.

 

 

 

La Vita Nuova - translated as The New Life in English - is one of the works composed by the great Florentine

poet known as Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). It tells the story of Dante's own unrequited love for Bice di Folco

Portinari (the Beatrice of La Vita Nuova) - a woman who captured Dante's heart while she was 9 and he was

12, died at the age of 25 and was to be, even posthumously, Dante's greatest inspiration. Although Dante,

himself, was married to Gemma di Manetto Donati in a union arranged by their respective families, Beatrice

was the love of his life - after her death, Dante withdrew into intense study and poetic composition. His other

works include: Commedia (The Divine Comedy); Convivio (The Banquet); and De volgari eloquentia (On the

Eloquence of Vernacular). Dante epitomised the Renaissance scholar - quite apart from his poetic fame, which

is such that he is known as il Sommo Poeta (the Supreme Poet) - he also held qualifications in medicine and

pharmacy and was a prominent politician who ended his life in exile from his native Florence.

 

This version of La Vita Nuova is based on a translation provided by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882). Rossetti,

like his poetic namesake, was an individual of many talents, being a poet, illustrator, painter and translator.

Such talents supported his intuitive artistic interests that contributed to him becoming among the central artists

associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement.

 

 

 

Our Greeting Cards and Reproduction Prints 

 

We have prepared sets of 16 Greeting Cards displaying each of the colour images from La Vita Nuova (1916) and on the left, we show an example of how these Greeting Cards appear. Ordering one of those sets is as easy as selecting the "Add to Cart" feature below and following the prompts provided with our Shopping Cart secured through PayPal. Multiple purchases will be consolidated by that feature and shipping and handling costs to any destination in the world are accommodated by our flat-rate fee of US$20 for every US$200 worth of purchases.

 

Code: EP LVN CS(16)
Price: US$80.00

When presented on Greeting Cards, these images are prepared as tipped-in plates - in homage to the hand-crafted

approach typical of prestige illustrated publications produced in the early decades of the 20th Century.

 

Hand-finishing is used to replicate the visual appearance of a tipped-in plate and the images are presented on

Ivory card stock (in the case of colour illustrations) or White card stock (in the case of monotone illustrations)

with an accompanying envelope. We have left the cards blank so that you may write your own personal

message.

 

To purchase, simply click on the "Add to Cart" button and you'll be taken through to our Shopping Cart secured

through PayPal.

Should you wish to order a Reproduction Print or an individual Greeting Card from this suite of images, we

welcome your contact through ThePeople@SpiritoftheAges.com.

 

In the meantime, enjoy perusing these wonderful images from Evelyn Paul.

 

 

The colour illustrations

 

       
       
       
       

 

 

 

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Last modified: 05/08/10