1,641 AQUATINT PLATES IN 21 VOLUMES
FERRARIO, Giulio, ed. Il Costume Antico e Moderno o storia del governo, della milizia, della religione, delle arti, scienze ed usanze di tutti i popoli antichi e moderni privata coi monumenti dell’anatichita e representata cogli analoghi disegni Milan Tipografia dell’editore, 1827
[with:]__________. Del Costume antico e moderno di tutti i popoli del Dottore Giulio Ferario. Indice generale per alfabeto e per materie proceduto da un saggio di supplimento alla detta opera e dall’ indicazione delle piu importanti scoperte e relazioni fatte ... Milan, Tipografia dell’editore, 1829.
[with:] __________. Aggiunte e rettificazioni all’ opera iul costume antico e moderno di tutti i popoli cogli... Milan, Tipografia dell’editore, 1831-34.
14 parts bound in 17 volumes, with 4 supplementary volumes, 21 in total. Large 4to. [38 x 26.5 cm], illustrated with six large folding maps, 1641 aquatint plates, of which 1518 are hand-coloured, various tables, etc., the dedicatee portrait of Francis I replaced with an emblematic portrait of “Terra.” Uniformly bound in contemporary vellum-backed marbled boards, the marbled paper renewed, red and green morocco labels. Occasional worming to inner margin, a few plates loose, generally a very clean set, uncut and partly unopened, excellent/very good.
First edition, second issue of the Italian-text version of Ferrario’s monumental work, with more than 1,500 hand-colored aquatint plates. This global pictorial encyclopedia was issued simultaneously in French and Italian by the prominent Milanese publisher Antonio Fortunato Stella. The images record a wide range of costumes, historical events, antiquities, religious and popular scenes, depicted in the Romantic style typical of the age. Separate volumes cover Asian and African peoples and locales, and 167 images relate to the Americas. Pages 383-433 of the first Asia volume are devoted to Japan, and are accordingly included in Alt-Japan and other standard Japan bibliographies. This section contains 10 handsome aquatint plates. Yet other plates concern the voyages of James Cook, drawing upon the documentary images made in Tahiti and elsewhere by William Hodges and John Webber. The work was originally printed in 143 weekly installments, priced at 1,716 French francs for black and white copies, and 2,288 francs for colored plates, with the supplemental volumes costing an additional 253 or 336 francs respectively. The set is comprised of 4 volumes dedicated to Asia, 2 dedicated to Africa, 1 book in 2 volumes to America, 6 books in 9 volumes dedicated to Europe, a 1-volume Indice generale and 3 subsequently published volumes of Aggiunte e rettificazioni. While bibliographers disagree over the date of the first volume—Vinet claims 1815 while Brunet and Colas mention 1816—, the 17 initial volumes appeared sequentially until 1826, at which point the publisher appears to have produced this second issue, featuring uniform title pages dated 1827 (see Colas 1050 for the similar French issue). The final four volumes (Indice and Aggiunte) appear only in the Italian-language edition; no French version was produced. The popular work appeared in 3 additional Italian-language editions: in Florence (1823-38); Naples (1831-42); and even a 16mo. edition in Livorno in 100 volumes (1830).Giulio Ferrario was one of the founders of the Società Tipografica of Classici Italiani and Director of Braidense Library where he left all his manuscripts and printed works.* Colas 1051 (1817-1826); 1052 and 1053; Lipperheide 51; Alt-Japan 483; Sabin 24,164; Brunet II.1232; Cicognara 1648; Vinet 2114; Graesse, II.571.
$US40000
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