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DONI, Anton Francesco. La zucca del Doni. [Fiori della zucca del Doni; Foglie della zucca del Doni; Frutti della zucca del Doni.]

Venice, per Francesco Marcolini., 1551-1552.

Octavo (158 x 98 mm.), four parts bound in two volumes; [16] leaves, 63, [1] pages, [4] leaves, 64 pages; [4] leaves, 61, [3] pages; with general title within large woodcut border with figures designed for this text and used here for the first time, 3 woodcut vignettes to section titles: I Cicalamenti, Le baie and Le chiachiere, 3 woodcut tail-pieces, 2 woodcut portraits, Doni and Burchiello, and 21 woodcut illustrations, some full-page among them one with Dante, Petrarca and Boccaccio; [16] leaves, 185, [3] pages with general title within large woodcut border with figures, 3 woodcut borders to section titles, one woodcut portrait of Doni and 18 illustrations, one of which full page, woodcut printer's device at the end; [8] leaves, 174, [2] pages with general title within large woodcut border with figures, 3 woodcut borders to section titles, one woodcut portrait of Doni and 16 illustrations, one of which full page, woodcut printer's device on last page; [1], 87 leaves with general title within large woodcut border with figures, one small portrait of Francesco Petrarca, two woodcut borders to section titles and woodcut printer device on last page. A very fine copy in late eighteenth century stiff vellum with gilt title on spine.

First edition, very rare, of Doni's popular satirical work and sharp societal critique, named La Zucca or ‘the pumpkin'. Originally published in 1551 as three parts, the work is divided into I cicalamenti della zucca del Doni, Le baie della zucca del Doni and Le chiachiere della zucca del Doni, to which a later chapter was added in 1552, Fiori della Zucca. The work is introduced with separate frontispieces for each chapter taken, from the designs of Lorenzo Torrentino (1499-1563), as well as scattered playful woodcut illustrations, such as a figure of a woman covering her face with a mask, accompanied by the motto: Quel che più molesta mi ascondo e taci (What bothers me the most I hide and keep quiet). A final edition was published in 1565 with an additional fifth chapter not included here.
Doni presents the reader of ‘The Pumpkin' with a panoply of short stories, jokes, letters, playful tales, artistic reflections, and grotesque speeches through a unique and chaotic experimental blending of prose and verse. The work belongs to the genre of ragionamenti, a fashionable literary style in Renaissance Italy where philosophical, moral, and satirical themes are developed through fictional dialogue, set to point out the incongruences of societal norms and ideas. The title itself carries symbolic weight, as La Zucca, or the pumpkin, as a vegetable was often associated with shallow concepts such as vanity, simplicity and emptiness. Doni employs common tropes and proxy characters to critique his contemporary society, human nature, institutions, and norms in a dynamic and playful manner. Anton Francesco Doni (1513–1574) was an Italian writer, editor, and scholar, renowned for his wit and innovative contribution to sixteenth century literature. Born in Florence, Doni was first educated as a clergyman, a lifestyle he abandoned in order to pursue the more bohemian life as a writer and intellectual. Doni's career was marked by frequent travels across Italy, including stays in Florence, Venice, and Rome, where he engaged with the literary and artistic communities, despite his struggles with financial instability and an erratic temperament. His most famous works include I Mondi (1552), a philosophical exploration of utopian and dystopian worlds, and La Zucca. Doni's writings offer a vivid window beyond the conventional Classical works published during the Renaissance, into the vivid intellectual and cultural dynamism of 16th century Italy. Complete sets in uniform antique binding are nowadays extremely rare.
USTC records only 2 copies in United States institutions (Duke and New York Public Library).

USTC 827596; EDIT16 CNCE 17687; Adams D835; BMSTC Italian p. 226; Gamba 1367; Graesse II 424; Mortimer Italian 164; Brunet II, 812.