103 engraved plates. 30.5x44 cm (12x17¼"), 19th century vellum-backed marbled boards with leather label titled "Vedute D'Italia."
Significant compilation of fine engraved plates of cities, towns, and countryside of Italy, The most notable of these is the "Téâtro prospetico" with 19 plates and an engraved pictorial title-page, featuring the topography, public buildings, streets, squares, and other features of Padua. The views are all signed as drawn by Francesco Bellucco. OCLC/WorldCat locates only two copies, at the British Architectural Library (Royal Institute) and the Sachsische Landesbibliothek in Germany. The former institution gives a rather lengthy description, and postulates that there should be 20 or 21 plates in addition to the title page; the latter listing states 20 plates, not mentioning the engraved title page as a separate entity. The BAL description reads in part: "The style and format of this work owes something to Giuseppe Vasi's Roman views of the 1740s and 1750s and the Téâtro prospetico appears to have been a modest attempt to produce a comparable suite for Padua. To judge by its extremely limited survival, the work was less than a runaway success. No other copy has been traced in a British, European or American library... The work is thus something of a mystery... The date is uncertain, and Thieme-Becker (1992) records its draughtsman Francesco Bellucco only as a 'stecher des 18 Jh. aus Padua'. He was evidently also a painter and draughtsman, and was almost certainly the driving force behind the Téâtro prospetico, as he signs all the views as artist... Of the engravers, rather more is known, and most appear to have been active in Venice, where the plates were presumably prepared for Bellucco and the printseller Giuseppe Ghirardini. The engraver who produced the title-plate, Antonio Baratti (1724-1787), was a pupil of Joseph Wagner (1706-1780), and the man who signs himself 'Giampiccioli' may be another of Wagner's circle, Giuliano Giampiccoli (1699?-1759). If this is so, then the present work may be dated fairly securely to the late 1750s,..." The other engravings in the volume, most apparently 19th century, are views of Italian countryside, ruins, architecture, cities, cathedrals, and more, including Sicily, Venice, Lombardy, Sardinia, Laga Maggiore, Parma, Florence, Naples, Torino, etc. etc. Many are from Corografia dell'Italia.
Condition:
Binding worn, spine torn, front hinge cracked through; just a little, mostly marginal light foxing within, but contents largely clean and fresh, with fine impressions to the plates.