Delle rime – Luigi Groto – 1601 | Hadriana | Romeo & Juliet Influence

Delle rime is a 1601 printing of Luigi Groto’s 16^th-century epic La Hadriana. This Italian tragedy tells the story of a young girl who fakes her death by poison in order to avoid marrying the man her parents intended for her. Her true lover thinks she’s dead and kills himself. When she finally awakes, she finds him dead and takes her own life too. This tragedy is keenly similar to Shakespeare’s famous play Romeo and Juliet, though, the similarities end with the tragic suicide scene. Other elements including supernatural and magic further separate the two tales.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Delle rime di Luigi Groto, Cieco d’Adria. Nuouamenti ristampate, & ricorrette dal medesimo auttore.
• Author(s): Luigi Groto
• Publisher: Venetia, Giacomo Zoppini & Fratelli
• Edition: 1601.
• Format: (16mo), single volume
• Binding: Full vellum (modern)
• Size:  5.25 in x 3 in (13.3 cm x 7.6 cm)
• Collation: 190 pp
• Illustrations:
• Contents Include:
  • Delle rime (collected lyric poetry of Luigi Groto)

Condition:

Modern full vellum binding, secure and tight. Pages are clean with little wear. Overall Very Good for a Venetian imprint of this date.

Why Collect This?

• Connection to Italian tragic drama with links to themes in Shakespeare
• Issued by the notable Zoppini press in Venice

Item Number: # 29243