1572 leaf from Count Matteo Maria Boirardo's Orlando innamorato-Orlando In Love

Double column Italian language text, arranged in cantos. This highly important Italian epic poem is considered one of the most important works of Italioan literature, as it served as the model for Ariosto's great Orlando Furioso. The subject matter, a Medieval Knight's quest, in love and war, is drawn from pseudo-Turpin's Fabulous Chronicle. Boiardo (1434-1497) composed the work for the amusement of patron Duke Hercules D'Este and his court. Left unfinished after his death, the poem was completed by Niccolo delgi Agostini and first appeared in the edition of 1526-31, which was printed in Venice.