1823 Pair of La Gerusalemme Liberata Di Torquato Tasso or Torquato Tasso’s Delivered Jerusalem, published in Florence. This pair of books is written in Italian & completely filled with stunning, full page engravings on hand made paper! There is some wear to the spines from use and age… but they are held together well!
Jerusalem Delivered; also known as The Liberation of Jerusalem… Is an epic poem by the Italian Poet Torquato Tasso, first published in 1581, that tells a largely mythified version of the First Crusade in which Christian knights, led by Godfrey of Bouillon, battle Muslims in order to take Jerusalem. Tasso began work on the poem in the mid-1560s. Originally, it bore the title Il Goffredo.
The poem is composed of 1,917 stanzas in ottava rima, grouped into twenty cantos of varying length. The work belongs to the Italian Renaissance tradition of the romantic epic poem, and Tasso frequently borrows plot elements and character types directly from Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso. Tasso’s poem also has elements inspired by the classical epics of Homer and Virgil. One of the most characteristic literary devices in Tasso’s poem is the emotional conundrum endured by characters torn between their heart and their duty; the depiction of love at odds with martial valour or honor is a central source of lyrical passion in the poem.
