Manhattan Rare Book Company

“Monasterium sine libris est sicut civitas sine opibus, castrum sine numeris, coquina sine suppellectili, mensa sine cibis, hortus sine herbis, pratum sine floribus, arbor sine foliis…”

[“A monestary without books is like a city without wealth, a fortress without numbers, a kitchen without utensils, a table without food, a garden without herbs, a meadow without flowers, a tree without leaves…”]

– The Abbot to William of Baskerville

SIGNED FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING OF ECO’S LITERARY MASTERPIECE.

Eco’s historical mystery novel, set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327, follows the tale of the friar William of Baskerville and the young Benedictine monk Adso of Melk, who are sent to investigate a series of murders that have occurred within the monastery. Renowned not only for Eco’s intricate plot, Il nome della rosa contains a vivid depiction of the late Middle Ages rich in historical depth and precise in its depiction of the tensions within a medieval community.

The present signed copy is in remarkably fine condition, with the original unclipped dust-jacket and a label from Italy’s copyright authority SIAE (Società Italiana degli Autori ed Editori; Italian Society of Authors and Publishers) verifying the copy as one of the first printings from September 1980.

ECO, UMBERTO. Il nome della rosa. Bompiani: Milan, 1980. First edition, first printing (September 1980). Octavo (5 x 9 in), 503, [13] pp., red cloth with gilt lettering to spine, with original dust-jacket. Signed by Eco in ink on title page. SIAE first edition sticker numbered "0031009" on copyright page; original “L. 10.000” price displayed on unclipped dust-jacket. Very faint marks to upper wrapper, tiny chip to top of wrapper spine; a spectacular copy of the first edition with dust-jacket colour extraordinarily vivid. Rare signed.
Contursi A021a.

Price: $4,000 .