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Condition: Crowns, joint in good condition, 1 dented corner, solid hinges, ribbed spine adorned with fleurons, gilt volume numbers and garnet morocco title label, some foxing, red edges. Volume 1 only.
Volume illustrated with an allegorical frontispiece, a title vignette and a vignette at the top of the first canto.
Apart from the defects reported, copy in good condition.
Established in Ferrara in the service of Cardinal Louis d'Este in 1565, Le Tasse (1544-1595) reflects well the contradictions of his time in Jerusalem Delivered, which is his major work. Written during the Counter-Reformation, a period characterized by moral rigor and strict observance of Catholic dogma, the poem was to both seduce its audience and edify it. A heavy task for its author who went so far as to submit his writings to the inquisitor and who ended up by deleting in The Conquered Jerusalem (1593) all the passages which, according to him, attacked modesty.
The subject of Jerusalem Delivered is taken from history: it is about the first crusade led by Godfrey of Bouillon, which resulted in the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099. It is not only an epic or religious poem, but it is also that of tragic loves – those of Tancrède and Clorinde, of Renaud and Armide, to name only the two main couples. Le Tasse wanted a war epic where the theme of love and the marvelous would be compatible with great actions. This tension between the sphere of worldly passions and religious aspiration was both Tasso's poetic challenge and the torment of his personal life. 67496191
