Details
MERCATI, Michele (1541-1593). Metallotheca. Opus Posthumum... opera autem, & studio Joannis Mariae Lancisii... illustratum. Cui accesit appendix cum XIX recens inventiis iconibus. Rome: Giovanni Maria Salvioni, 1719 (colophon 1717).
2 parts in 1 volume, 2° (376 x 255mm.). Half-title. Title and section title printed in red and black with engraved vignettes, engraved frontipiece, portraits of Mercati (after Tintoretto) and Lancisi, title to the first part, 6 plates (1 double-page, 1 folding), 159 illustrations, some full-page. Contemporary French calf gilt (spine rebacked, old spine laid down, sections of the covers neatly repaired). Provenance: Chalette (signature on title).
FIRST EDITION, second issue. Mercati's manuscript catalogue of the Vatican collection of minerals and fossils had to wait 150 years before publication. It was discovered by Carlo Dati, brought up to date by Pietro Assalti and edited and published by Lancisi. In addition to the manuscript Dati also found the original copper plates for the engravings: these also appear here for the first time.
2 parts in 1 volume, 2° (376 x 255mm.). Half-title. Title and section title printed in red and black with engraved vignettes, engraved frontipiece, portraits of Mercati (after Tintoretto) and Lancisi, title to the first part, 6 plates (1 double-page, 1 folding), 159 illustrations, some full-page. Contemporary French calf gilt (spine rebacked, old spine laid down, sections of the covers neatly repaired). Provenance: Chalette (signature on title).
FIRST EDITION, second issue. Mercati's manuscript catalogue of the Vatican collection of minerals and fossils had to wait 150 years before publication. It was discovered by Carlo Dati, brought up to date by Pietro Assalti and edited and published by Lancisi. In addition to the manuscript Dati also found the original copper plates for the engravings: these also appear here for the first time.