Lot 46: ITALIAN OPERA.

ITALIAN OPERA. AUTOGRAPH VOLUME OF OVER 100 COLOURED COSTUME DESIGNS BY ROMOLO LIVERANI (1809-1872), INCLUDING FOR OPERAS BY ROSSINI, DONIZETTI, AND BELLINI drawn in pen and ink, with coloured washes, and autograph captions and descriptions, including costumes for Otello (9) , Il barbiere di Siviglia, La straniera (7), La Vestale (8) , Medea in Corinto, L'esule di Granata, Ifigenia in Aulide, Romeo e Giulietta, Elisabetta Regina d'Inghilterra, together with costumes for Turks, Greeks, Russians (6), Crusaders, Egyptians (6), Celts etc., including for ballets ( Giovanna d'Arco, Gabriella di Vergy) , inscribed by the artist on the fly-leaf ("Tomo Decimo Settimo di N.110 Figurini di Costumi Fatti in 1831, da Romolo Liverani Scenografo...") and label to spine, 103 pages, 8vo (c.20.5 x 13.5cms), contemporary boards, probably Faenza, 1831, calf back broken with the pages loose, page 1 missing, corners cut from 2 pages, some staining, well-thumbed in places

Romolo Liverani (1809-1872) worked as a scene and costume designer in Emilia Romagna during the classical period of Italian bel canto opera. From 1824 he designed for the opera houses in his native Faenza, Ravenna and Sinigaglia. For more about Liverani, see the article 'I disegni di Romolo Liverani' by Marcella Vitali, in La Biblioteca Comunale di Faenza, la fabbrica e i fondi, a cura di Anna Rosa Gentilini (Faenza, 1999), pp.159-170. An exhibition of Liverani's stage designs was mounted at the Pinacoteca comunale in Faenza in 1990. For other operatic costume designs, please also see lots 132 & 143.