Lot 5: ALBERTOLLI, Ferdinando (1781-1844). Porte di Città e Fortezze Depositi sepolcrali ed altre

ALBERTOLLI, Ferdinando (1781-1844). Porte di Città e Fortezze Depositi sepolcrali ed altre principali fabbriche pubbliche e private di Michele Sammicheli [sic]. Milan: Cesarea Regia Stamperia for the author, Pietro and Giuseppe Vallardi, and Fratelli Bettalli, 1815.

Oblong 2° (400 x 540mm). Aquatint frontispiece and 29 etched or aquatint plates by and after Albertolli, some printed in sepia. (Some spotting, principally affecting margins, some slight cockling of text leaves and plates.)

BINDING: contemporary Italian vellum gilt, boards with borders of fine, painted red rules within gilt bands of urn and foliate tools with star tools at the centres and corners, upper board painted in red and yellow with 'E' formed of leafy sprays within cartouche of flowers and leaves, gilt board edges and roll-tooled gilt turn-ins, spine gilt in compartments, gilt morocco lettering-piece in one, gilt edges (lightly marked and rubbed, extremities a little rubbed and bumped).

PROVENANCE: Prince Eugène de Beauharnais (cipher on upper board, his second sale, Milan, Ulrico Hoepli and Braus-Riggenbach, 20-22 November 1935, lot 2, pencilled note on upper pastedown 'Library Prince Eugene de Beauharnais') -- traces of shelfmark on lettering-piece -- Sir Robert Abdy (sale, Paris, 29-30 April 1976, lot 3).

FIRST EDITION. A PAINTED VELLUM BINDING FROM THE LIBRARY OF NAPOLEON'S STEPSON, PRINCE EUGèNE DE BEAUHARNAIS (1781-1824), on Albertolli's fine plates of the military, public and domestic architecture of Michele Sanmicheli (1484-1559), described by Cicognara as 'disegnate con molto diligenza' and as 'the first accurate illustrations of Sanmicheli' (RIBA). Berlin Kat. 2737; Brunet I, 136; Cicognara 394; Fowler 287; RIBA 60.

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