Beautiful Ornate Gilded Antique Book seeking ID

I have no other information about this book, other than the images. If anyone has information, or regognises the painting I would be very greatful.

 

You see the coat of arms on the left? The one with the seven balls? That's of the Medici family and automatically points you toward Florence.

Debora

 

(The Medici coat of arms is also where the 3-ball symbol for pawnshops comes from.)

Debora

 

Thanks, that really helps

 

In the center is the coat of arms of the Republic of Florence.

Debora

 

The painting is likely to be Dante meeting Beatrice. Here's another version of that subject. And again Florence.

Debora

 

Here's another version.

Debora

 

Here you go. Dante's House and the Meeting with Beatrice.

Debora

 

Carne Liebig did a series of trade cards featuring the life of Dante. 1921 according to the internet.

https://www.ebay.it/itm/Liebig-S-1116-Dante-Alighieri-2-grande-piega-1921-ITA-/273401532835

Debora

 

Here's information on Carne Liebig or Liebig's Extract of Meat.

https://www.cooksinfo.com/liebigs-extract-of-meat

Debora

 

Figure in Red at left Dante Alighieri meeting Beatrice Portinari (his muse)

Title: " Meeting of Dante and Beatrice"

 

This is a variation of the Alighieri coat of arms, the family to which Dante belonged. The third above, the one on the right, may be meant to represent the poet.

Debora

 

Don't judge a book by its cover

Do you have any pictures of the title page or the inside?

 

Thanks for all the responses, the book is obviously related to Dante. Beatrice was featured in the Divine Comedy and La Vita Nuova, I'm investigating along those routes, nothing found yet.

The only other other image I have is the back.

 

Since you don't have the book, where are the pictures from?

Is there any chance for further inquiry with the book holder?

 

It was amongst acollection of books that I was offered a number of years ago that I have unfortunateley lost the details of, including the holder. A friend of mine saw the images and has become fascinated with the ornate craftwork of the book, hence the search to try and establish its identity.

 

The form was inspired by the Renaissance. Here's is a tooled leather-bound book that era.

Debora

 

I'm not even sure this is a book - there appears to be very little space for pages between the thick covers. La Vita Nuova is the most likely text if it is, since that's Dante's work most involving Beatrice.

If it is a binding, it's not done by a professional binder. It appears to be actual wood boards gessoed or plastered, then painted & gilt. The spine seems to be a strip of leather literally tacked on, which no skilled binder would do, and the decoration, to my eye, looks more Spanish or Spanish Colonial than Italian Renaissance, but in clear imitation of something Florentine.

The binding in Debora's picture has brass edges, which would not be untypical of a high-end renaissance binding. Here are some other bindings with wood covers held by the British Library:

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/bookbindings/Results.aspx

Not the easiest website to browse, but I entered the keyword 'wood' in the CoverMaterials space.

I'm afraid the original book/object is a one-off unique item, and you're not going to find anything about it if you can't track down the original offer.

 

I don't think it's a book either. And I can't imagine a publisher using an advertising image on a cover in that way.

Debora

 

I have come to a similar conclusion

I have discovered that a lot of 'faux books' originating out of Florence as 'safes' or trinket boxes were produced, probably in the 19th Century, which are characterised by Renaissance styling with lots of gilt. I now suspect it could be one of these.