100 books : The collection of a Gentleman

Cittadella, Cesare. Catalogo istorico de' pittori e scultori ferraresi e delle opere loro con in fine una nota esatta delle più celebri pitture delle chiese di Ferrara tom. 1. [-4.] . In Ferrara : per Francesco Pomatelli, 1782-1783.



4 vols 8vo, modern binding, vol 1: 42, 197, [3] p.; vol 2: vi, 246 p.; vol 3: vi, 326, [2] p.; Vol 4: iv, 344, [4] p. Xylographic titlepages.



4 titlepages and 25 chalcographic oval plates with portraits of important painters described in text.



This catalog is a fundamental work for the knowledge of the art history of Ferrara and the first to be printed on the lives of the city's main artists.



Cicognara 2240. Schlosser Magnino, p. 531. Lozzi I, 1663

EXCEEDINGLY SCARCE COLLECTION OF ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS AND DOCUMENT ON BERGAMO HISTORY

Codex diplomaticus civitatis, et ecclesiae bergomatis canonico Mario Lupo ejusdem ecclesiae primicerio digestus notis, et animadversionibus illustratus; volumen primum [-secundum] .
Bergomi : ex typographia Vincentii Antoine, 1784-1799

2vols Folio, contemporary stiff vellum, gilt titles on brown and black labels at spine, pp. XXXII, (2), 368 col., (4), 1096 col. (2); (4), 8, 1467 cols, 7 engraved pales by Francesco Lucchini

LUPO, Mario. (1720 - 1789). He completed his studies in Rome, where he published in 1744 two essays in Latin on the years of the birth and death of Christ.
When he returned in 1748 in Bergamo, where, canonical of the cathedral, gave new life to the Academy of the Excited, he started to gather with the help of friends and disciples, all ancient documents concerning Bergamo scattered in the archives and libraries of Italy.
He was then able to publish the first volume of thr Codex diplomaticus civitatis et ecclesiae bergomatis, which was later praised, among others by F.C. Savigny, for the light brought on some points of medieval history not only of Bergamo but of Italy all.

The second even rarer volume, waspublished 15 years after the first, and contains the commentary and additions to the work of Lupo, edited by Giuseppe Ronchetti.

CATHOLIC THOUGHT AGAINST ILLUMINISM

Valsecchi, Antonino. Dei fondamenti della religione e dei fonti dell'empietà. Padua, Bettinelli for Tipografia del Seminario, 1789.

3 volumes in 4to, contemporary stiff vellum, gilt titles within ochre labels at spine, red and blue sprinkled edges, pp. XVI, 199; XVI, 132 and XX, 300. Roman type, text in Italian.



Antonino Valsecchi (Verona 1708-1791) was an Italian canon belonging to the Order of the Preachers. He used to teach theology at the University of Padua.

References: Gamba, 2483. IT\ICCU\RLZE\025078.

FIRST EDITION OF THIS TREATISE ABOUT THE GEOMETRY OF THE COMPASS BY LORENZO MASCHERONI

Mascheroni, Lorenzo. La geometria del compasso di Lorenzo Mascheroni. Pavia: presso gli eredi di Pietro Galeazzi, anno V della Repubblica francese 1797.

8vo, original printer's paperboards; pp. [2], XVIII, 264, [14] leaves of folding plates.

First edition of Mascheroni's most important book, in which he proves that any geometrical construction that can be performed using ruler and compasses can be carried out by means of compasses alone.

References: IT\ICCU\RMSE\001645.

Astle, Thomas. The Origin and Progress of Writing. The origin and progress of writing, as well hieroglyphic as elementary, illustrated by engravings taken from marbles, manuscripts and charters, ancient and modern : also some account of the origin and progress of printing / by Thomas Astle, Esq. F.R.S. F.A.S. and keeper of the recorsd in the Tower of London. London : Printed by T. Bensley, Bolt Court, for J. White, at Horace's Head, Fleet-Street., 1803.
4to, full leather binding (worn) gilt decorations at boards and spine, pp. [8], XXIV, 240, [1].

33 engraved plates (some folding)

Second Edition

The first major English work about palaeography. The plates illustrate different styles of writing and relative alphabets, including Phoenician, Greek, Lombardic, Celtic, Franco-Teutonic and modern Gothic.

Rare handcoloured copy

JOLY, Adrien. Arts, Metiers et Cris de Paris par Joly d'apres nature. Paris: Martinet, [c. 1813].

8vo, Modern quarter green calf on decorated paper, gilt decorations and titles at spine

A nice collection of handcoloured plates, based on drawings by Joly (real name Adrien Jean-Baptiste Muffat, 1772-1839) representing activities along the street of Paris.

FIRST EDITION OF THIS METICULOUS WORK BY GIUSEPPE GRASSI, THAT LISTS ALL PARTS, TOOLS AND MILITARY EQUIPMENT
NO COPY IN USA

Grassi, Giuseppe. Dizionario militare italiano di Giuseppe Grassi dell'Accademia reale delle Scienze di Torino. Volume 1. [-2.]. Torino: dai torchii della vedova Pomba e figlii, 1817.

8vo (204x128 mm), full green leather binding, flat spine with gilt title and decorations, gilt frame at boards, marbled paper at paste-downs, brown sprinkled edges; 2 vols; pp. XXVIII, 179, [1]; 224.

Meticulous work by Giuseppe Grassi (Turin 1779-1831) that lists all parts, tools and military equipment, actualizing the work done by the writers of the past centuries with the innovations brought by the Napoleonic campaigns and then by the Restoration.

After this first edition, the Author expanded it by doubling the work with the help of some academicians of the Crusca who published it posthumously.

References: IT\ICCU\SBLE\015018 (IT\ICCU\RAVE\006578 and IT\ICCU\RAVE\006579). OCLC, 799550020 (solo in Italia), 832328208 and 832702173 (1 copy in Germany).

[First Edition]

Combe, William. The dance of life, a poem, by the author of "Doctor Synta”, illustrated with coloured engravings by Thomas Rowlandson . London : published by R. Ackermann, repository of arts, 101, Strand, 1817 (London : J. Diggens, printer, St. Ann's Lane)



Small 4to, Full leather binding, gilt decorations at spine, titles on red and black labels at spine, pp. II, 285, [3]., [26] coloured plate.



One of the most typical among the illustrated caricatural work of British XIX century.

Gozzini, Vincenzo. Monumenti sepolcrali della Toscana disegnati da Vincenzo Gozzini, incisi da Giovan Paolo Lasinio sotto la direzione dei signori cav. P. Benvenuti, e L. De Cambray Digny con illustrazioni . Firenze : presso l'editore, 1819.

Folio, red quarter-calf binding on paper boards, pp. [6], 106, [2], f.[1], XLVII plates engraved by Giovanni Paolo Lasinio. Title page engraved by G. Frilli.



A collection of funerary monuments in Tuscany on drawings by Vincenzo Gozzini.

Dedalo : rassegna d'arte / diretta da Ugo Ojetti. Milano \etc.! : Bestetti e Tumminelli, 1920-1933.

14 volumes, 4to, A. 1, n. 1 (giu. 1920)-a. 13, n. 6 (giu. 1933), full red leather binding,



Complete set of all the published volumes of this important art review, founded and directed by Ugo Ojetti in 1920, which had as collaborators: Berenson, Venturi, Marangoni, Argan, and others. Each issue is enriched with black and white illustrations.

One of the rarest book on dance

Gironi, Robustiano. . Saggio di Robustiano Gironi intorno alle danze dei Greci. . Milano : Tipografia del D. Giulio Ferrario, 1822.

Folio, original orange paper binding, pp. 65, [3], Segn.: \1(6)! 2-8(4) 9(4) (-9(4).

8 full page colored engravings.

The work is dedicated to dance among the ancient Greeks based mainly on the study of ancient vases, extremely interesting for the history of costume, dances and musical instruments.

Provenance: Paper Ex Libris Dr. Maximilian Joseph Pfeiffer, pasted at front inside board.

Raccolta di XII proverbi Toscani, rappresentati in figure con altrettanti Illustrazioni morali nelle due lingue Italiana e Francese, ed altrettanti motti poetici. Firenze, 1826

Firenze : tip. A. Tofani, 1826.

4to, half cal leather boards, gilt title on a leather label at front board

Very rare collection of proverbs from tuscany, each illustrated by a full page text and commented by a text in Italian and French.

No copy recorded in worldwide libraries

First Edition


Valentini, Francesco. Trattato su la commedia dell'arte, ossia improvvisa. Maschere italiane ed alcune scene del Carnevale di Roma. Dal professore Francesco Valentini romano. Berlino : presso Luigi Guglielmo Wittich, 1826

Folio, 2 parts in 1 volume, contemporary bounds in boards, pp. x, 32, [2]; vi, 36, [2], 20 colored plates.


Very rare and beautifully illustrated work about the Commedia dell' Arte and Roman Carnival.

20 colored plates after drawings by Sturmer.


It was published in Berlin in 1826, 37 years after Goethe's famous 'Roman Carnival'

The magnificent aquatint panels initially show theatrical masks on 6 panels, followed by 14 panels with masks and festival scenes from Rome Carnival

Bibliography: Graesse VII, 238. - Brunet V, 1038

Monnier, Henry. Moeurs Parisiennes. . Paris: Chez Gihaut freres, 1828

Oblong small folio, brown leather half calf on red morocco boards.

10 colored lithographed satirical plates by Monnier, printed by Villain

Henry Bonaventure Monnier (1799 - 1877) was is a French cartoonist, illustrator, playwright and actor.

First Edition

Cibrario, Luigi. Sigilli de' principi di Savoia / raccolti ed illustrati per ordine del re Carlo Alberto dal cavaliere Luigi Cibrario e da Domenico Casimiro Promis. Torino : dalla Stamperia Reale, 1834.

4to, brown half calf on colored paper, pp XV, 274, [1].

Rare first edition of the presentation of a beautiful collection of seals of the Royal family of Savoy. It is illustrated with an unfolding genealogical table and 33 engraved full page plates of representation of seals .

Strassen Karte der Oesterreichischen Monarchie.1835

General map of Austria, composed by 9 parts, folded in 8 part each, Ca. 75x 110 cm.

Alighieri, Dante. La Commedia di Dante Allighieri / illustrata da Ugo Foscolo. Londra : Rolandi, 1842-1843.

4to, 4 volums bounded in two, contemporary stiff vellum.

FIRST EDITION of the Divine Comedy edited by Ugo Foscolo. Foscolo began working on this project as early as 1820 but only the first volume (of the 5 that originally had to compose the work) was published in 1825 before his death. The preface to this edition bears the signature 'Un Italiano';
the publisher is in fact Giuseppe Mazzini, who carried out the original intentions of Foscolo and published the work following the papers left by him.

Very rare report of the Emperor Ferdnando I travel to Trieste

Ferdinando I e Maria Anna Carolina nel Litorale in Settembre 1844. Trieste, I. Papsch & C. Tipografi del Lloyd Austriaco, 1845

A folio volume, original paper binding, pp. [2], IV, 56, [18] leaves of plates.

Illustrated report of the official visit of the Emperor of Austria Ferdinand I and his wife Maria Anna Carolina to Trieste in September 1844. The work is illustrated with 18 magnificent lithographed plates and sumptuously enhanced with gouache , described in Italian and German.

They were lithographed by Linassi & Comp. on drawings of various artists including Cesare Dell ’Acqua, Gius. Rieger, A. Tischbein, Pietro Pupilli, Fran. Bellemo, Marco Moro, Marco Comirato, Giov. Pividor, Melch. Fontana and Aless.

Very rare. Only one known copy at Yale University Library.

Folded map of Paris with main monuments ad list of streets

Vuillemin, Alexandre. Nouveau plan illustré de la ville de Paris : avec le systeme complet de ses fortifications et forts detaches, et des communes de la banlieue. Paris : Fatout, 1844.

1 map, steel engraving ; sheet 85 x 107 cm, folded in cover to 22 x 13 cm

Splendid work on glossy paper retracing the Very large map of Paris, engraved on steel by Benard, adorned with around fifty vignettes depicting monuments, bridges or squares in Paris and its suburbs, and the 13 forts around Paris (Charenton, Nogent, Ivry, Bicetre, Montrouge, etc.). With alphabetical list of streets, table of towns in the suburbs, distances between forts and the "granting wall" or Farmers General barrier.

The plan shows the two surrounding walls of the city, the wall of the General Farmers, built in 1790, and the bastioned wall of Thiers.

Nouveau plan de Paris fortifie . Paris : P. Marie et A. Bernard, 1855



1 colored folding map of the city of Paris (61x90 cm) . At margin the list of the street names.



Beautiful map of Paris printed shortly after the start of Haussmann's Paris transformation work.


It shows the two surrounding walls of Paris, the wall of the Fermiers Generaux, an enclosure built between 1784 and 1790, the objective of which was to allow the collection, at the crossing points, of a tax on goods entering the city, and the enclosure of Thiers, named after the politician who conceived the project, built between 1841 and 1844, at the request of Louis-Philippe, who wanted to build around the capital a bastioned enclosure which would make the city impregnable.






Beyond the enclosure of Thiers, one can see the 16 detached forts built at the same time as the enclosure (forts of Vincennes, Charenton, Ivry, Bicetre, Montrouge, etc.). These forts are represented by fortified walls in watercolor green. The city is divided into 12 arrondissements, the numbers of which are written on watercolor labels.


It was not until June 16, 1859, that the 20 arrondissements were created, when the suburbs located between the fortifications of the Thiers enclosure and the Wall of the Farmers General were annexed to Paris. Fourteen monument vignettes adorn the map: Arc de Triomphe, Bastille, Hotel de Ville, etc. The Seine is decorated with several boats. The plan also shows the railway lines illustrated with trains. Valley, 2053.

Francesco : da Buti. Commento sopra la Divina Commedia di Dante Allighieri / di Francesco da Buti ; pubblicato per cura di Crescentino Giannini. Vol I (III). Pisa : f.lli Nistri, 1858 (1862)

3 vols 4to, contemporary quartes stiff vellum on paper boards, vol I: pp. XXXVI, 864, 2 plates (Portraits of Dante and Francesco Buti); vol II: pp. 825, x; vol III: pp. 902.



Rare Edition of Dante Masterpiece, printed in 300 copies, with the commentary of Francesco Da Buti, an Italian literary critic and Latinist, one of the first commentators on the Divine Comedy. .


The structure of the Commentary provides, for each song, the division into two "lessons", each of which is divided into "parts". Each "part" contains the explanation of a certain number of triplets.

In commenting Inferno ( Hell), da Buti clearly separates the literary explanation - in the form of paraphrase - from the allegorical interpretation. In the commentary on the two subsequent canticles the "literal exposition" is instead merged "together with the text and allegories".

A nice set in an original full blue vellum binding.


Poesie (Le) di Giuseppe Giusti. Firenze - ed. Barbera 1862.

[Togheter with]

Poesie (Le) liriche di Vincenzo Monti - Firenze - ed. Barbera 1862.

[Togheter with]

Rime (Le) di Francesco Petrarca - Firenze - ed. Barbera 1863

[Togheter with]

Commedie (le) di N. Machiavelli- Firenze - ed. Barbera 1863.

[Togheter with] Poesie e lettere di Vincenzo da Filicaia - Firenze - ed. Barbera 1863.

[Togheter with]

Canti di Giacomo Leopardi - Firenze - Successori Le Monnier 18.

[Togheter with]

Cronica Fiorentina - Dino Compagni - Firenze - ed. Barbera 1862.

BRUE, Adrien Hubert - BORDIGA, Giovanni Battista

Carta dell' Asia. Ridotta sopra quella in 4 fogli di H. Brue e secondo la Geografia di Malte-Brunn. Milano, Vallardi, 1850.


[togheter with]


BRUE, Adrien Hubert - BORDIGA, G(iovanni) Batt(ista)

Carta dell' Affrica. Ridotta sopra quella in 4 fogli di H. Brue e secondo la Geografia di Malte-Brunn. Milano, Vallardi, 1850.


[togheter with]

BRUE, Adrien Hubert - BORDIGA, G(iovanni) Batt(ista)

Carta dell' Oceania o quinta parte del mondo. Ridotta sopra quella in 4 fogli di H. Brue e secondo la Geografia di Malte-Brunn. Milano, Vallardi, 1850.

BARBET DE JOUY (Henry). Les Gemmes et joyaux de la couronne. Paris, Chalcographie des musees imperiaux, 1865.
2 parts in 1 vol in folio, quarter leather binding on coloured paper (worn).


60 plates drawn and etched from the originals by Jules Jacquemart, each accompanied by an explanatory note by Barbet de Jouy.