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45
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[ESTACO, Aquiles or Achilles STATIUS].
See original version (French)
45
-
[ESTACO, Aquiles or Achilles STATIUS].
See original version (French)
Estimate €700 - €800
Voluntary lot
Description
[ESTACO, Aquiles or Achilles STATIUS].
Portraits of illustrious men (sic) as they appear in the city.
Rome, (Lafrery), 1569.
Small folio, engraved title page, LII plates. Contemporary vellum, smooth spine, speckled edges (a few stains or marks on the binding and the inner fore-edge of the volume on a few quires; the upper hinge is slightly split but the interior remains fresh).
A rare first edition of this 16th-century series of antique etchings.
Comprising 52 black etchings of busts or herms of illustrious or mythical Greeks and Romans, engraved on a neutral, shaded background, with titles within the figures.
Based on artefacts found in Rome, this series draws on the collections of Fulvio Orsini and the Farnese family, amongst others, and constitutes one of the key sources for Renaissance painters.
Complete with its title-frontispiece page featuring a portico, of which there are slight variations; our copy was engraved prior to the letter from [Lafrery], the publisher.
Whilst references to missing plates are occasionally found in public collections, the work is generally recorded as complete with 52 engravings.
Each plate bears a handwritten caption stating (in some cases) the name of the figure depicted, as well as the provenance, the collection and a number in the bottom right-hand corner.
Although unsigned, the work is attributed to the engraver Agostino Musi, known as Agostino Veneziano or Veneto (c. 1490–after 1536).
The preface is by Aquiles Estaço (Achille Stazio or Statius) (1524–1581), secretary to Pope Pius V and the Council of Trent; however, in this instance, only the atlas itself is bound, without the text.
Only two entries in the CCFr (BnF and Nice).
Antoine Lafrery (1512–1577) was a native of Franche-Comté, a publisher and print dealer, who settled in Rome in the 16th century.
Cicognara, 2120.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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