C. Gio. B. Guarini. Il Pastor Fido : Tragi-Comedia Pastorale. Paris: C. G. Molini, 1782.
(140 x 90 mm) pp. 375. Printed on laid paper, fore edges coloured with Armenian red clay. 3/4 leather binding with boards. Spine panels decorated in gilt. Cover bumped and significantly shelf worn. Interior quite good.
Originally printed in the 1590s, this tragi-comedy defied the Aristotelian aesthetic notion that tragedy and comedy should not be mixed in one work. The mix worked so well, however, that Il Pastor Fido (the Faithful Shepherd) was 'adapted' (i.e. lifted and rewritten) by Tasso in his Aminta and served as inspiration for Handel and Vivaldi, among others. Printed in Paris with the Italian