Hypnerotomachia Poliphili = The strife of love in a dream / Francesco Colonna ; the entire text translated for the first time into English with an introduction by Joscelyn Godwin with the original woodcut illustrations.

'It is hard to believe that one of the most famous books in the world, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, read by every Renaissance intellectual and referred to in studies of art and culture ever since, has never in 500 years appeared in English. One reason, no doubt, is the length and difficulty of the text. It is a strange, pagan, pedantic, erotic, allegorical, mythological romance relating in highly stylized Italian the quest of Poliphilo for his beloved Polia. The author (presumed to be Francesco Colonna, a friar of dubious reputation) was obsessed by architecture, landscape and costume -- it is not going too far to say sexually obsessed -- and its 174 woodcuts are a primary source for Renaissance ideas on both buildings and gardens.'

Hardcover.