Details
PIRANESI, Giovanni Battista (1720-1778). Vedute di Roma. [Rome: 1748-1777].
2 volumes, large oblong 2° (536 x 795mm). Engraved folding map of Rome on 3 sheets (Focillon 600), etched title to vol. I, frontispiece in vol. II and 132 plates (Focillon 719-822, 824-853, without nos. dopo 822, 823 and dopo 823), extra-illustrated with a window-mounted engraved catalogue leaf (Hind p.6, no.2, ca. 1761) and a loosely inserted later state of the same leaf (Hind p.6, no.11, ca. 1773). (Crease marks at old centre-folds, title and frontispiece additionally creased, old light dampstaining to 16 plates in vol.I, light rust-stain to Focillon 741, appreciable spotting to Focillon 812, small neat marginal repair to Focillon 750). Modern brown half morocco, the flat spines with lettering-pieces. Provenance: Walther and Goldi von Stocker, Scherer Castel (bookplates).
A FINE CONTEMPORARY ROMAN EDITION of the Vedute, Piranesi's masterpiece of views of Rome. Piranesi almost certainly began to issue his large-format views of Rome soon after his return to to that city in 1747. The first scenes were of the most popular architectural monuments and tourist sites, such as the Piazza del Popolo, the Quirinal, the Piazza Navona and the Trevi fountain. They were distinct from views created by other artists for the tourist market in their large size (which also made them more difficult to copy) and their accuracy. Piranesi continued to augment the series throughout his lifetime, and he occasionally retouched them to bring them up to date. The plates in the present copy largely conform to Hind's state B3, with those plates which normally have Piranesi's address and price so etched, and with some plates before, and some after, the rebiting and additional work. A fine set of dark impressions on thick laid Italian paper with wide margins, 92 of the plates in Hind's first or second states. Focillon pp.336-352; Hind pp.38-73. (2)
2 volumes, large oblong 2° (536 x 795mm). Engraved folding map of Rome on 3 sheets (Focillon 600), etched title to vol. I, frontispiece in vol. II and 132 plates (Focillon 719-822, 824-853, without nos. dopo 822, 823 and dopo 823), extra-illustrated with a window-mounted engraved catalogue leaf (Hind p.6, no.2, ca. 1761) and a loosely inserted later state of the same leaf (Hind p.6, no.11, ca. 1773). (Crease marks at old centre-folds, title and frontispiece additionally creased, old light dampstaining to 16 plates in vol.I, light rust-stain to Focillon 741, appreciable spotting to Focillon 812, small neat marginal repair to Focillon 750). Modern brown half morocco, the flat spines with lettering-pieces. Provenance: Walther and Goldi von Stocker, Scherer Castel (bookplates).
A FINE CONTEMPORARY ROMAN EDITION of the Vedute, Piranesi's masterpiece of views of Rome. Piranesi almost certainly began to issue his large-format views of Rome soon after his return to to that city in 1747. The first scenes were of the most popular architectural monuments and tourist sites, such as the Piazza del Popolo, the Quirinal, the Piazza Navona and the Trevi fountain. They were distinct from views created by other artists for the tourist market in their large size (which also made them more difficult to copy) and their accuracy. Piranesi continued to augment the series throughout his lifetime, and he occasionally retouched them to bring them up to date. The plates in the present copy largely conform to Hind's state B3, with those plates which normally have Piranesi's address and price so etched, and with some plates before, and some after, the rebiting and additional work. A fine set of dark impressions on thick laid Italian paper with wide margins, 92 of the plates in Hind's first or second states. Focillon pp.336-352; Hind pp.38-73. (2)