Notizie de’ Professori del Disegno da Cimabue in qua, per le quali si dimostra come, e per chi le bell’Arti di Pittura, Scultura e Architettura lasciata la rozzezza delle maniere Greca, e Gottica, si siano in questi secoli ridotte all’antica loro perfezione (1681-1728)

Description

Original speckled calf boards, rebacked in tan calf with raised bands, one red gilt and one black gilt label, and gilt decor per spine. Remains of gilt decor to board edges. Wear to board corners. 4tos (21.3 x 27cm). All edges speckled red. Ink-spot to fore-edge of vol. II. Hinges sound. Repairs to endpaper gutters. Armorial bookplate of ‘E. Rolfe, Heacham Norfolk’ to inside front boards of all vols, signed ‘Hughes fecit’ (Fincham identifies as ‘R. B. Hughes’, but see British Museum entry for John Hughes, fl. 1765). This is likely Edmund Rolfe (1738-1817) of Heacham Hall (descendant of John Rolfe, husband of Pocahontas), who made the Grand Tour from 1761-62. Pencil owner’s signature of Philip Pouncey to front free endpaper of vol. I: likely Philip Pouncey, CBE, FBA (1910-1990), historian of Italian Renaissance art. Medici arms to title page. 6 vols bound in 3; subtitles vary according to contents. Contents, with individual imprints: Secolo I, 1260-1270 (Per Santi Franchi, 1681) / Secolo II, 1300-1400 (Per Piero Matini, 1686) / Secolo III et IV, 1400-1540: opera postuma (Per li Tartini e Franchi, 1728) / Secolo IV, parte seconda, 1550-1580 (Piero Matini, 1688) / Tre decennali, 1580-1610: opera postum (Giuseppe Manni, 1702) / Secolo V, 1610-1670: opera postuma (Per li Tartini e Franchi, 1728). Typographic headpieces, decorated initials, and tailpieces throughout. Portrait frontis to vol. 3. Folding genealogies. Repair to top edge of vol. II p. 3. Occasional marginal scholarly annots, mostly in pencil in recent hand (Pouncey?), mostly to later vols. Vol. II has 2 page nos neatly removed, leaving small hole: nos. following 224 & 280. Pencil emendation above one removal suggests this was a response to misnumbering. A little edgewear to top margin of first 2pp. of vol. III. Filippo Baldinucci (1625-1696), art historian. Born into a prominent Florentine family, Baldinucci made a name for himself as one of Italy’s leading connoisseurs and effectively became the curator of the Medici art collections. His 1681-1728 Notizie, consciously framed as a successor to Vasari’s Lives of the Artists, was his most important publication: it went considerably beyond Vasari in its attention to non-Tuscan and indeed non-Italian artists, and broke new ground in its alertness to networks of artistic influence and its meticulous use of archival sources. Posthumously published volumes were edited by Baldinucci’s son, Francesco Saverio. ‘Cet ouvrage est difficile a trouver complet’ (Brunet, I, p. 622). Robust packaging. Tracking is always added to USA orders. It can be added to other overseas orders on request. Used books are exempt from USA tariffs.