Main editions of Ariosto

Editions during Ariosto's lifetime, without engravings

The first edition of Roland furieux (in forty songs) is an in-quarto volume, published in Ferrara, by Giovanni Mazocco dal Bondeno, in April 1516 (cote Bnf Res-yd-242).

The second edition, whose language is corrected, " épurée ", still comprises forty songs. It was printed in 1521, still in Ferrara, by Giovanni Battista da la Pigna.

The third edition, in forty-six songs, was printed at Francesco Rosso da Valenza's presses in Ferrara in 1532 (Impresso in Ferrara : per maestro Francesco Rosso da Valenza, a di primo d'ottobre 1532, Venice, Biblioteca Marciana, cote SBN CFIE001473).

Other editions appeared between these dates, or simultaneously:

• Milan, J. J. e fratelli de Legnano, 1524, in-quarto, cote Bnf Res-yd-243
• Venice, Francesco Bindoni, mars 1526 (Stampato nella inclyta citta di Vinegia, del mese di marzo 1526, Venice, Biblioteca Marciana, cote SBN VEAE126736)
• Venice, Niccolò & Francesco da Salò Garanta, 1527 (Stampato in Vineggia : per Giouanantonio et fratelli da Sabbio : ad instantia di Nicolo Garanta et Francesco compagni librari al Dolfino, 1527), Venice, Marciana Library, call number SBN CNCE002557
• Venice, 1531 (Stampato in Vinegia : a santo Moyse nelle case nuoue Iustiniane, per Francesco di Alessandro Bindoni, & Mapheo Pasini, compagni, 1531 del mese di genaro, Venice, Marciana Library, call number SBN CNCE002565)

These reprints testify to the book's success. If no illustrated edition of Roland furieux appeared during Ariosto's lifetime, it is therefore more to do with the cost, rarity and novelty of the process than with the lack of an audience for such an undertaking.

Sixteenth-century illustrated editions

1549

The earliest illustrations are woodcut. The earliest edition we've come across is the 1549 edition by Giolito de Ferrari, whose small woodcuts occupy only half a quarto page (these engravings are reproduced in l’édition Nucio d’Anvers, 1558). Valvassori edition of 1566 and the Rampazetto edition of 1570 possess. /// different engravings, but of the same type, the oldest among Ariosto's illustrations.

1556

The Valgrisi edition represents a second type and marks a revolution compared to the engravings of the previous type. The first Valgrisi edition dates from 1556 (2 copies at the Marciana; the engravings reproduced in Utpictura18 come from a 1562 reprint held at the Bnf). These are still woodcuts, but this time in large format, occupying the full page of an in-quarto volume. The large number of characters depicted means that several, if not all, episodes of the song being illustrated can be represented in the same engraving. The engravings in this edition, which are unsigned, would have been executed from drawings by Dosso Dossi, a painter whom Ariosto had known and frequented.

1584

Finally the Franceschi edition introduces a major technical innovation: The engravings are no longer printed on wood, but on copper plates, which are more resistant and allow finer detail work. The title page of this edition announces the name of the engraver, Girolamo Porro, who had made his name engraving the maps in Tommaso Porcacchi's book devoted to the islands of the world ( L'isole piu famose del mondo descritte da Thomaso Porcacchi da Castiglione arretino e intagliate da Girolamo Porro padovano con l'aggiunta di molte isole .. - In Venetia: appresso Simon Galignani & Girolamo Porro, 1576). Girolamo Porro's engravings, very much inspired by those of the Valgrisi edition, whose format they adopt, notably introduce a new treatment of perspective and seek to rationalize the arrangement of characters and episodes in a representation space that tends to unify.

Eighteenth-century illustrated editions

After the sparse illustrations and tiny formats of seventeenth-century editions, the eighteenth century returned to sumptuous editions. But the style of the engravings had completely changed: they were now intended to represent a scene, rather than the entire song. Engravings are now almost always signed, sometimes with a date, sometimes with a title. A group of three editions stands out for this period: firstly the Baskerville edition, published in Birmingham in 1773 and reissued in 1775. In keeping with the tradition of illustrated editions of Ariosto, it features one engraving per song. The main illustrators who contributed to this series were Giovanni Battista Cipriani (14 drawings), Jean Michel Moreau le jeune (13 drawings) and Charles Eisen (6 drawings). Brunet edition, published in Paris in 1776 and the Plassan edition, which dates from 1795, also contains this series, to which a second series, drawn entirely by Cochin fils, has been added, so that each song contains two illustrations : in most cases, the illustrators chose different scenes; in some cases, there are two different interpretations of the same scene. The history of these two series of engravings is complicated by the fact that they were not published at the same time as the texts in which we now find them bound, as attested by the sometimes late dates mentioned on some of them (even if these dates give an indication of the engraving, and not of the preparatory drawing, which is sometimes much earlier). In any case, it seems that in 1776, when the text of the Brunet edition appeared, the first series had not yet been completed, while the second had already begun. Yet it was precisely in 1776 that the luxurious Zatta edition, illustrated after drawings by Pietro Antonio Novelli.
   Birmingham, Paris, Venice: Ariosto's cultural influence in Europe was at its height.