[Mozart] Ponte, Lorenzo Da. (1749–1838) [Guarini, Giovanni Battista. (1538–1612)]. Pastor Fido di Gio. Batta. Guarini - INSCRIBED by Da Ponte. Firenze: Per Niccolò Conti. 1819. 1 f. (title), 308 pp. and 6 engraved plates, octavo. Inscribed on the front free end-paper by Da Ponte "A Miss M. Ogden, L. Da Ponte." With the bookbinder's label of John H. Minuse of 83 Cross St. Leather, hinges and backstrip cracked, front joint split but reattached, preserved in a cloth drop-back box. Signed items from Da Ponte are very rare.


Most famous for having written the libretti to three Mozart operas (Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosi fan Tutte) Da Ponte later settled in New York and founded the Italian Department at Columbia University. The present volume, with the plate of a well-known New York bookbinder, was presumably gifted by Da Ponte while he lived in New York.


Il pastor fido is a pastoral tragicomedy by the Italian poet Guarini, written in the 1580s while he served as court poet for Duke Alfonso d'Este II in Ferrara, and first published in 1590. It was immensely popular in sixteenth-century Italy, and it quickly became one of the most widely read texts across Europe. It was also the inspiration for many great musical works, including by Marenzio, Monteverdi, Handel and many others.