HYPNEROTOMACHIA POLIPHILI: the strife of love in a dream

By Francesco Colonna. Translated by Joscelyn Godwin. London: Thames & Hudson. 1999. [pounds]42

Published in 1499 by the renowned Venetian printer Aldus Manutius, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili quickly cast a spell over humanists and architects. John Soane described the book as of extraordinary merit', while Alberto Perez-Gomez recently used it as a basis for a critique of technology. Its enigmatic tale of the quest for ...