I have been reading about the early reception of Boiardo's Orlando Innamorato and of its
successor, Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. We know that the Furioso, an enormously successful
poem, was first published in unusually large print runs, and letters survive in which Ariosto
complains about small royalties and about booksellers who claim not to have sold all their
copies of the poem. Boiardo's Innamorato was successful as a court poem, enjoyed by his
Este patrons, but never achieved comparable success in print. Are there any documents
which suggest that Boiardo, like Ariosto, chased booksellers or tried to improve his sales? Or
was he satisfied with a court audience? The limitations of libraries and even inter-library
loans mean that I have, so far, very little bibliography on early editions of the Innamorato - can
anyone help me?
Thank you,
Zoe Anderson
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