61 - (Medicine, Physiology) Lazzaro Spallanzani De' Fenomeni della Circolazione osservata nel giro universale de' vasi; de' fenomeni della circolazione languente; de' moti del sangue independenti dall'azione del cuore; e del pulsar delle arterie. Dissertazioni quattro ... Modena, Societa' Tipografica, 1773.

€ 1300

First edition, translated into French in 1800 and in English in 1801, and reprinted in the collected works. "Among the many dedicated natural philosophers of the XVIII century, Lazzaro Spallanzani (Scandiano near Modena 1729 - Pavia 1799) stands preeminent for applying bold imaginative and experimental methods to an extraordinary range of hypotheses and phenomena … Through a chance discovery in 1771 that the vascular network in the umbilical cord of an embryonated hen's egg could be seen clearly with the Lyonet apparatus, Spallanzani first established the existence of arteriovenous anastomoses in a warm-blooded animal. He also studied the effects of growth (in the chick embryo and tadpole) upon circulatory mechanisms; the influence of gravity and the consequences of wounds on different parts of the vascular system; and changes in the languid or failing circulation in dying animals. Finally, Spallanzani demonstrated that the arterial pulse is due not to mere cardiac displacements but to lateral pressure upon an expansile wall from cardiac impulsions conveyed by the blood column. A total of 337 experiments were outlined and expounded in four dissertations..." (DSB).

& DSB XII, pages 553-567; Prandi (Spallanzani) pages 35–36: "Importante e rara…"; Norman 1981; Heirs of Hippocrates 983; F. Willius & T. J. Dry (A History of the heart and the circulation, W. B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 1948) page 89.

62 - (Microscopy, Galileiana) PERSIO tradotto in verso sciolto e dichiarato da Francesco Stelluti … In Roma 1630, appresso Giacomo Mascardi.

€ 5000

First edition of this translation, an important scientific work and a first-rate Galileanum. A reprint was issued in 1632. Persius had been a renowned author of satirical compositions during the first century of the Roman Empire, the “Aetas aurea” of the Latin literature. His works, more moralizing than Horace’s and less crude than Juvenal’s, enjoyed widespread favor during Middle Ages and Renaissance. This translation was made by the scientist Francesco Stelluti (Fabriano 1577 – 1652), a close friend of Federico Cesi and one of the founders of the Accademia dei Lincei. He was involved in the publication of two works of Galileo, “Istoria e dimostrazioni intorno alle macchie solari” and “Il saggiatore”. “In 1630 Stelluti published his translation, with commentary, of the satires of Persius. A reference to Arezzo, in which the Barberini family (his patron, Cardinal Francesco Barberini, and the Pope Urban VIII belonged to this family) supposedly originated, was pretext enough to insert a Descrizione dell’ape, illustrated by woodcuts (correctly burin-etchings) based on the Apiarium, but magnified only six times, with a short account of the organs (shown separately). Persius’ allusion to a grain weevil is illustrated by a microscopic representation (magnified ten times); the tip of the snout with its mandibles (magnified twenty times) and a view of the whole (life-size).“ (DSB). These are thus the first illustrations drawn from microscopic observations to be published in a book. The engraver, the German Matthäus Greuter, had published a broadside with bees drawn from microscopic observations in 1625, in the occasion of the elevation to the Papal dignity of Maffeo Barberini (Urban VIII), with a text of the same Stelluti, at a smaller resolution. This broadside is little known, though it is the direct progenitor of the illustrations of the present book. Another illustration depicts allusively a lynx, and three other are of archeological interest. Many notes and one introductory poem refer to Galileo and his discoveries. References to Della Porta are interspersed in the notes. This is also the first book where the word “microscope” has been used.

& DSB XIII, pages 29-30; Cinti 86; Gamba 2053; Vinciana 1766; Thorndike VIII, 53: "The first systematic observations with the microscope to be published."; Drake (Galileo at work) chapter VI, with reproduction of the bees’ plate; Federico Cesi e la fondazione dell’Accademia dei Lincei (Exhibition catalogue, Venice 1988) pages 94-95 (with reproduction) and passim; Carli-Favaro 121.

63 - (Fortification, Horology) Leonard Christoph Sturm Architectura militaris hypothetico-eclectica oder gründliche Anleitung zu der Kriegs-Baukunst aus denen Hypothesibus und Erfindungen derer meinsten und besten Ingenieurs dargestellet. Nürnberg, verlegts Peter Conrad Monath, 1719. (Bound with) The same Project (!) de la resolution du fameux probléme touchant la longitude sur mer. A Nuremberg, chez Pierre Conrad Monath, 1720.

€ 4000

A convolute of two works of the scientist, architect and theologian Leonhard Christoph Sturm (Altdorf 1669 - Blankenburg 1719). He studied mathematics at the university of his native town and acquired European renown as editor of the posthumous writings of Nicolaus Goldmann, to which he appended several works of his own conception. His theorizations were broader than those of Goldmann and led him even to formulate proposals for a new architectural order, the "German", which was substantially a more richly carved and ornamental version of the Ionic one. He was most active during his period as city architect of the Dukes of Mecklemburg in Schwerin. He authored also books of different subject, as theological treatises, mathematical textbook, polemics against different opponents and geographical handbooks. Ad 1) First definitive edition, enriched by 6 chapters, 24 pages of tables and several illustrations with respect to the first edition of 1702. The unsold copies were reissued with an updated title in 1720 and the book was frequently reprinted in Germany during the XVIII century and translated into Russian in 1720. "Encyklopädie der Befestigungskunst, in welcher mehr als 80 verschiedene Manieren (Bauarten) besprochen werden" (Jähns). "A remarkable work, in which the ideas on fortification of a large number of authors are critically discussed and compared in dialogues between the engineer/author and his patron. The opening notes on each author give some bibliographical detail of his published work, usually including a rudimentary collation (number of quires, number of plates)" (Breman). This book is therefore the most complete survey of the state of art in fortification technique in the first half of the XVIII century, not only discussing the innovations brought forth by the different authors, but also taking a definitely critical stand against some of them such as e. g. Vauban, whom Sturm had already attacked in previous works. At the same time it constitutes the first modern bibliography of military architecture. Ad 2) Only edition, published posthumously. Sturm had worked on the problem of finding longitude by sea, which was necessary to determine the distance run by a ship and therefore its position. The British admiralty had set up a Board of Longitudes for the solution of this problem. The Board had instituted in 1714 a prize of 20000 pounds for the scientist who could contribute a workable and reproducible method for the determination of the longitude. Many famous and less famous scientists attempted to obtain this prize, which was gained by Harrison in 1767. The proposal of Sturm for the determination of the longitude consisted in the use of a log apparatus, which had originally been invented by Vitruvius and perfected by Besson during the XVI century and by the same Sturm. It consisted basically in a modification of the Vitruvian odometer, which was composed by a large wheel of known circumference mounted in a small frame; when it was pushed along the ground by hand it automatically dropped a pebble into a container at each revolution, giving a measure of the distance traveled. The improvement proposed by Sturm consisted in  the use of a clock set in action by the wheel to precisely measure the time elapsed and consequently the distance. Though anticipating the idea of Harrison, the clock of Sturm did not have the same precision and was susceptible to changes of athmospheric conditions, thus making the invention inapplicable.

& Ad 1) Jordan 3679; Jähns, pages 1389 and 1704; Marini page 178; Kat. Berl. 3538; H. W. Kruft (A history of architectural theory from Vitruvius to the present) pages 182-186 and passim; Breman (Books on military architecture printed in Venice, Hes & DG 2002) page 413; Architekt und Ingenieur no. 341. Ad 2) Stratico page 69; Crone collection 433a/b; Houzeau-Lancaster 10413; Polak 8933; Baillie page 158: "I can find no copy of this book"; Honeyman 2938; not in Bromley and Tardy.

64 (Zoology) Friedrich Gabriel Sulzer Versuch einer Naturgeschichte des Hamsters. Göttingen und Gotha, verlegts Johann Christian Dieterich, 1774.

€ 1500

First edition, reprinted in 1949. Friedrich Gabriel Sulzer (Magdeburg 1746 – Berlin 1830), the son of the famous scientist and philosopher Johann Georg, authored only the present book, the first specifically written on hamster and still useful at the time of its reprint. Sulzer provides in the foreword a list of the authors who have included sections on hamsters in their works, including Gessner, Klein and Linnaeus among others. The different chapters include the description of the different races of hamsters according to their physical characters, their anatomy and ecology, including information on hibernation, diet and reproduction. Also discussed is the economical aspect of hamsters, noxious as agricultural parasites, but useful for the alleged habit to feed upon mice, their fur and the way to capture them. The appendix contains some disparate information on hamster, as their name in several European languages and the account of new observations on the animal made by Pallas and Gmelin in Russia.

& BMNH page 2048; Nissen ZBI 4039; Cobres 318: “Gut”. SEE ILLUSTRATION ON PLATE VI

65 - (Bibliography) Giacopo TARTAROTTI, e Domenico Francesco TODESCHINI Saggio Della Bibliotheca Tirolese, o Sia Notizie Istoriche Degli Scrittori Della Provincia Del Tirolo. Venice, 1777.

€ 1000

Second, considerably enlarged edition of these biographical and bibliographical notes on the writers of the Italian Tyrol. The first edition of 1733, printed in Rovereto, contained only 99 pages. The frontispiece is drawn by Michael Catrarozzi and engraved by Amadio Gabrielli. Tartarotti (1708-1737) was a notary in Rovereto.

& Lozzi 5338: "Raro. Saggio assai ben fatto e da D.-F. Todeschini di giunte e note molto accresciuto".

66 - (Chemistry) Johann THÖLDE Haliographia, daß ist gründtliche unnd eigentliche Beschreibung aller Salzmineralien, darinn von des Saltzes erster Materia, Ursprung, Geschlecht, Unterscheid, Eigenschaft, Wie man auch die Salzwasser probiren, die Salzsole durch vielerlei art künstlich zu gute sieden, durchs Fewer und ohne Fewer erreichern, und verbessern möge, klärlich gehandelt wird, Beneben einer historischen Beschreibung aller Saltzwercke, ihrer Umbstände und gelegenheit, Auch wie man aus allen Metallen und vornembsten Mineralien, deßgleichen aus Thieren, Kräutern und Gewürzen ihre Saltz außziehen, und zu menschlicher gesundheit brauchen soll ... In Verlegung Jacob Apels (no place but probably Leipzig), 1612.

€ 1600

Second edition, appeared for the first time in 1603. Johann Thölde or Thölden lived between the XVI and the XVII centuries. He was the editor of the works of many alchemists, among whom the great Basilius Valentinus and Paracelsus (Kleine Hand- und Denckbibel); some bibliographers identify him with the same Basilius Valentinus, but this is still under decision. This is the only work which he published under his name. The author speaks in detail and from his own experience (he was chemist and co-owner of the salt deposits of Frankenhausen in Thuringen) about the different qualities of salts, how to extract them from mines, the saline sources, the salts which are not extracted from the soil but are obtained from pure metals by reactions with acids; the salts derived from animals and plants. The purification of different sorts of salts from the raw materials is also discussed. Another subject where Thölde accumulated a lot of experience was the retrieval of places where it was possible to find given species of salts. The medical use of tobacco is alluded to on page 316.

& Caillet 10645; Duveen 576; Ferguson, pp. 445-446 (exhaustively); Partington II, 187; Thorndike VII, 156.

67 - (Militaria) Gio. Francesco TROTTI (but Matteo Luigi CANONICI) Notizie storico-critiche concernenti all’arte degli antichi negli assedj, e nella difesa delle piazze sotto i faustissimi auspici dell’altezza reale Ferdinando di Borbone Principe di Parma, Piacenza, e Guastalla, ec.ec. In Parma 1761, nella stamperia di Filippo Carmignani.

€ 1100

First edition. Written by Matteo Luigi Canonici under the name of Trotti (De Backer Sommervogel). Canonici was born in Venice in 1727 an died in1805; he became a Jesuit in 1743. He published only two works, both printed in Parma by Carmignani: the present one and the Preposizioni storico-critiche concernenti all'arte degli antichi negli assedj, appeared in 1760. Interesting work about the ancient Greek and Roman military action and siege strategies. The last pages depict inscriptions from Roman monuments, two of the plates depict Roman coins.

& De Backer Sommervogel (Anonymes et Pseudonymes) 631; Choix n. 7908; DBI XVIII, 167-170; O.C.L.C. 78418261; 1 copy in the British Library, no copies in Italy.

68 - (Drawing) L. L. VALLÉE Traité De La Science Du Dessin; Contenant La Théorie Générale Des Ombres, La Perspective Linéaire, La Théorie Générale Des Images D'optique, et La Perspective Aerienne Appliquée Au Lavis: Pour Faire Suite a La Géométrie Descriptive . Paris, Mme Vve Courcier, 1821.

€ 1500

First edition, complete with the plates (lacking in the BNF). Louis-Léger Vallée (1764-1864) was a French engineer. Interesting treatise on perspective and the mechanism of vision.

& Poggendorf II, 11168; Kemp p. 231; Vagnetti Flb 24.

69 - (Balneology, Zoology) Domenico Vandelli Tractatus de thermis agri Patavini. Accessit Bibliotheca hydrographica, et Apologia contra Cel. Hallerum. (Accessit) Epistola De Holothurio, et testudine coriacea ... Patavii ex typographia Conzatti 1760-1761.

€ 2200

First edition of this convolute. The author had issued a book on the thermal baths of Abano in 1759, much less complete than the present edition. The Epistula, directed to Linnaeus, had appeared independently and has been joined in some instances to the this volume. The apology against Haller and the thermal bibliography are published here for the first time. Domenico Vandelli (Padua 1735- Lisbon 1816) was an Italian physician and botanist. He studied at the university of Padua, where he took later a professorship, and left for Portugal in 1764, following an invitation of the Marquis de Pombal, who planned to reorganize Portuguese higher learning according to modern models. He became a professor at the university of Coimbra and founded the Ajuda botanical garden in Lisboa and the Coimbra botanical garden, which he directed from 1773 to 1791. He followed the king of Portugal into exile during the French occupation of Portugal (1810-1815). The first part of the book contains a complete survey of the thermal baths of the region of Padua, where attention is given to their medical properties and to their history and fame. The first two chapters contain a succinct history of Padua and the thermal localities neighboring it. Vandelli was one of the first investigators to study the fauna and flora associated to the thermal springs in object, discovering a variety of alga and a mollusk which are described in the third chapter and reproduced in the figures at the end of the book. Vandelli attempts to explain the healing properties of the baths in chemical terms and dedicates the whole fourth chapter to the chemical analysis of the waters. The fifth chapter contains information on the healing properties of the different thermal baths and how to take advantage of them for the treatment of different diseases. The second part of the convolute is written as a confutation of Haller. Vandelli criticized sharply the theory of irritability (i. e. the transmission of the nervous impulse) set forth by Haller, preferring to ascribe to all tissues the ability to feel sensations. In this work he attacks Haller's thesis that the periostion and the different membranes of the organism (membrane is in this sense still to be understood as surfaces delimiting organs) are not able to feel pain, supporting this opinion with findings of his own and of several contemporary and past scientists, among whom Le Cat, to whom this work is dedicated. The separately paginated opuscule, directed to Linnaeus, describes two specimens of marine fauna, an holothuria and a new species of marine turtle, Dermochelys coriacea (also known today as lute turtle). As Vandelli was the first zoologist to describe this peculiar species of turtle, distinguished by a leathery carapace instead of a bony one, his name has remained associated with it. The last part of the convolute contains the second bibliography of books on thermal baths. The first had been authored by Grossen in Nuremberg in 1729. The bibliography of Vandelli contains not less than 500 authors, divided by nationality, including also books on Scandinavian and Russian springs, and figured for a long time as the most useful of its sort.

& Hirsch VI, page 65; Duveen page 595: "The bibliography of writers on mineral waters at the beginning is important. There is also a long section on mineral analysis."; Lozzi 3278: "Opera assai importante per la storia delle terme …"; Waller 9809 (Tractatus) and 11982 (Opusculum); Blake 469; not in Soulsby.

70 - (Philosophy) Giulio Cesare Vanini Amphiteatrum aeternae providentiae divino-magicum… Lyons, apud viduam Antonii De Harsy, 1615.

€ 5000

Only edition of the first book of Vanini. It had, as the second one (De admirandis naturae ... arcanis, Paris 1616) of this philosopher, no reprint and all copies found were destroyed by order of the Parliament of Paris after the execution of Vanini. Lucilio (he preferred to be called Giulio Cesare) Vanini (Taurisano near Lecce 1585 – Toulouse 1619) was issued from a noble family of Southern Italy; his mother was Spanish. He became a Carmelite friar in 1603 and received a doctorate in utroque jure in 1606 from the University of Naples. After having been threatened with excommunication by the general of his order, he sought refuge in England. He arrived there in 1612 and five months later abjured Catholicism in the presence of Francis Bacon. However, he abjured Anglicanism in a few months, applied to Rome for re-admission as a secular priest. His request was granted and he was thrown into jail. He escaped to France and arrived in Paris in 1614. In Paris he asked permission to publish his work on the Council of Trento (this work has not survived), but he met with a negative answer. In 1615 he published the present book and in 1616 his De admirandis … Both works were published with an imprimatur, which was later withdrawn by the Sorbonne under pretext that they had approved a different text not corresponding to the printed version. Vanini flew to Toulouse where he practiced medicine and taught philosophy. He was recognized by earlier Paris acquaintances, arrested and thrown once more into jail. After more than six months of detention, he was burned on the stake. He was considered alternatively as a martyr of the freedom of thought or else as an fanatical ignoramus. The scathing judgment of Voltaire (un pauvre prêtre Napolitain) remained famous; Voltaire tended however to a generally positive consideration of Vanini. This book is an apparently orthodox treatise on the nature and qualities of the divinity, where however several passages inspired to a completely pantheistic conception are found and the arguments in favor of a strictly Catholic conception of the world and divinity are offered with tongue in cheek. This is considered the beginning of the libertine rhetoric, where subversive ideas are offered under the cover of the respect for the established principles, though references to heterodox authors are present throughout. Vanini was indebted for many of his opinions to Cardano and Pomponazzi, whose names are cited often in the text. God is for Vanini an infinite, eternal, atemporal being, who has created the world from itself and is active in the world because he is completely contained in the nature. The world is eternal, the matter cannot be destroyed, but only change its forms. The philosophy of Vanini is thus a genuine naturalism, asserting the eternity of the world and the fact that it is governed by immanent laws. Nature and its immanent laws is what Vanini considers the divine providence to mean. He does not deny the existence of souls, both for humans and animals, but denies their eternity. Vanini is one of the first who began to treat nature as a machine governed by laws. He should be seen as a precursor of ideas which were completely developed only in the following centuries, as the infinite transformability of matter (Lavoisier) and the idea that the human being had risen and not fallen, which anticipates evolution.

& DSB XIII, pages 573-574; Thorndike VI, 568ff; Riccardi II/7, 99; Caillet 11028: “Extremement rare; l’auteur fut supplicié et le livre supprimé fort exactement”; Dorbon ainé 5060: “Rarissime”.

71 - (Mycology) Antonio VENTURI (Brescia 1806 - 1864) Studi micologici, Brescia, Tip. Del Pio Istituto in S. Barnaba, 1842.

€ 2500

First edition. Antonio Venturi Brescia 1806 - 1864) wrote several works about mushrooms systematics, ecology and mushrooms-growing. In this work the most common species of the area around Brescia (Northern Italy) are described. Venturi was working at a larger book about the mushrooms growing in the surroundings of Brescia (published in 1845 with the title I Miceti dell'agro Bresciano, with 64 plates) but, as he states in the introduction, decided to publish the present one as a kind of preliminary study. Due to the large consumption of mushrooms in the region, the risk of poisoning was considerably high and a good description of at least the most common species, would have been, in Venturi's opinion, of some use in the prevention of this kind of accidents. A very interesting book, with thorough descriptions and accurate illustrations.

& Nissen n. 2.053; Volbracht n. 2.181; not in Raffaele Ciferri (Bibliographia Mycopathologica) and Piero Redaelli. SEE ILLUSTRATION ON PLATE III

72 - (Physiology) V. S. L. Dell'engastrimita o ventriloquo dissertazione in cui si fa la storia di quest'arte, e si dimostra se sia vero o no, che gli engastrimiti parlin col ventre. Prima edizione con tavola anatomica in rame. Firenze, nella stamperia Bonducciana, vendesi alla Dispensa della Gazzetta, e da Giuseppe Formigli in Condotta, 1823.

€ 1000

The author describes the physiological basis of ventriloquism. Possibly a reduction of the most famous work on this subject (La Chapelle, Le Ventriloque ou l'Engastrimythe) published in Paris in 1772. Both works give the same explanation of the phenomenon stating that it is due to a great flexibility of the vocal cords and an appropriate practice. The use done in the past (gods were believed to speak through oracles, who actually acted as ventriloques) and in the present (as entertainment) is described; in both cases the ventriloque succeded in focus the attention of the audience away from his face, to avoid the unaivodable, even though minimal, movement of his mouth to be noticed. Interesting booklet, bibliographically not referable for us.

& Not in Melzi; O.C.L.C. 80391391 (1 copy in Harvard).

73 - (Astronomy) Meindert WAERMA Nieuwe Meetkonstige Eclips-reekening, zynde een beschryving van verscheyde nieuwe geinventeerde Astronomische Cyfer-Tafels en Meetschaalen, beneven derselver gebruyk. T’Amsterdam By Joannes Loots, Boek- en Kaartverkooper, in de Nieuwe Brugsteeg, in de Jonge Lootsman, 1721.

€ 4500

Possibly only edition. Meindert Waerma was probably from 1715 a preacher of the Groningen Old Flemish congregation at Emden in East Friesland, Germany. Nothing more is known about the author. This work describes a method, developed by Waerma, to calculate, with the help of ruler and a pair of compasses, the heights of the sun and the moon, the tides, eclipses, and that can be used for other nautical and astronomical purposes. The tables included also give the calendar between 1501 and 2201. An interesting book.

& Bierens de Haan 5217; Houzeau-Lancaster n. 12119; not in Zinner (Instruments) and Crone Library; not in van der Aa; Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 868; O.C.L.C. 69044446 (1 copy in Amsterdam); KVK locates 1 copy in the British Library.

74 - (Chemistry) Georgii WIDMERI, Medicinae Doctoris, Chymia corporis animalis cum lithogeognosia et artificio aquas salsas dulcificandi, methodo scientifica pertractata. Argentorati, ex Officina Libraria Amandi Königii, 1752.

€ 120

Second edition (a previous one was published in 1751, also in Strasbourg, by Heitz, see OCLC). Widmer was born in Switzerland (Canton Luzern); according to Poggendorff the date of birth is unknown, that of his death is in the 70's of the eighteenth century. He was magister in philosophy and physician in Strasburg.

& Poggendorff II, 1315; Ferchl 578; DBA (microfiches) n. 166; O.C.L.C. 14323832.

75 - (Collection catalogue) Alexandre ZANETTI Le Premier Siècle de La Calcographie Ou Catalogue raisonné Des Estampes Du Cabinet De Feu M. Le Comte Léopold Cicognara... Avec Une Appendice Sur Les Nielles Du Mème Cabinet. École d'Italie par Alexandre Zanetti. (Écoles Allemande, Flamande et Française par C.A.) Venise, Joseph Antonelli, 1837.

€ 1000

Conte Leopoldo Cicognara (1767-1834) was a poet and an amateur artist, a patron of the arts and one of the founding fathers of the discipline of art history. He reconstituted the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Venice and for many years served as its president. He assembled a large library which in 1824 was acquired by Pope Leo XII and added to the Vatican Library. Cicognara's annotated catalogue of his library is still a model of bibliography. Towards the close of his life Cicognara became an enthusiast for niello, and wrote a memoir which has since remained a classic (Memoire spettanti alla storia calcografia). See also item n. 20 in this catalogue.

& Cole I, 293; Stefano Liberati (Bibliografia dell'incisione. Milano, Bonnard, 2004) n. 55.

76 - (Perpective, Mathematics, Painting) Eustachio Zanotti Trattato teorico-pratico di prospettiva. In Bologna, nella stamperia di Lelio Della Volpe, 1766.

€ 2000

First edition, reprinted in the collection of the Italian classics in 1825. Eustachio Zanotti (Bologna 1709 – 1782) was the son of Gian Pietro Zanotti, a renowned painter and the author of an esteemed textbook for the instruction of young painters. He became the assistant of the famous astronomer Eustachio Manfredi and succeeded him in 1739 as the director of the astronomical observatory. He provided several important contributions to astronomy and hydraulics and was responsible of the restoration of the sundial in the cathedral of Bologna. This “a lucid and informative” (DSB) book on perspective is the most complete he wrote on the subject, with the intention to provide both mathematicians and artists with a manual able to settle the deficiencies of both professions. It was preceded by a much shorter version appeared in Latin eleven years before. Zanotti shows clearly to have studied in detail both Galli Bibiena and Lambert, but shows, especially in the last chapter, to be an innovative scientist with respect to his famous predecessors. This work was competitive with the famous textbook of Taylor among the Italian public. “It is an indication of the continuity of the intellectual context in this Italian academic environment that … Zanotti should develop into a Newtonian scientist and astronomer of note … Zanotti’s treatise, as would be expected from a scientist of his quality, provides an analytical treatment of the mathematics of perspective at a highly professional level … He is aware that the science of geometrical perspective cannot be regarded as a precise matching of visual experience, and he recommends the avoidance of doctrinaire effects of foreshortening in large-scale schemes to be viewed from various angles, but his ultimate recommendation is that the painter can best evoke reality by following the established rules with care and consistency …“ (Kemp).

& Riccardi, I/2, 654-655 (mentioning only 10 plates): “Raro e pregiato…”; Cicognara 874: “Eccellente e chiarissimo trattato …”; DSB XIV, pages 589-590; Canterzani page 239; Gamba 2508; Vagnetti EIVb50; Kemp (The Science of Art) page 141.

77 - (Engineering, Hydraulics) (Pietro ZULIANI) Piano facile ed economico per fortificare e per restaurare gli argini de’fiumi ed anche per chiudere le rotte. Padova, 1783, Nella stamperia del Seminario presso Giovanni Manfré.

€ 700

First edition. Pietro Zuliani (1739-1804) was member of Accademia Galileiana di Scienze,Lettere e Arti in Padua. This work describes the methods to strengthen and repair embankments; the best materials to be used for these purposes are also discussed. A machine (invented by a Mr. Volpi), useful to ease the work is described. Also a method to stop and to divert a river is suggested.

& Riccardi II, 674; ICCU (IT\ICCU\PUVE\008570). 

Trade catalogues

78 - (Trade catalogue, Pottery) ANON Pattern book of Leeds pottery. Leeds, no date but about 1814 (from the watermark).

€ 6000

Second edition, second issue of one of the first pattern books printed in England by a pottery manufacturer (a Wedgwood catalogue was first published in 1774). The first edition, appeared in 1783 and republished in 1794, contained only 40 plates; a second edition saw the light about 1800 and contained 31 new plates. This enlarged edition was reprinted on paper whose watermark bore the date ‘1814’. This is the first complete edition, containing designs absent in the earlier versions, and is the edition chosen for reproduction by Towner in 1963. The present copy exhibits a further reason of interest, as it contains an unrecorded plate not reproduced in Towner. The plate reproduced by Towner (item no. 193), even though it is defined as a ‘water closet pot’, definitely depicts a washbasin with a tap, the other plate (also marked item 193) shows what is clearly a water closet pot. A possible explanation is that the compiler of the list of the items (which was sold separately, see Towner) has replaced the original figure 193 (water closet pot), with the other (washbasin) but has not amended the description of the item in the list. The full gamut of the pieces produced by the Leeds factory is reproduced, extending from magnificent to humbler manufacts such as chamber pots, bidets, ladles and spoons. The Leeds pottery factory was founded in 1770; in 1775 William Hartley became a partner to the firm. Hartley desired to emulate Wedgwood and aspired to equal his success. “Yet he evidently possessed too much character of his own to become a mere imitator of his rival, with the result that the Leeds wares, and particularly the creamware on which the Pottery largely concentrated for the next twenty years, though they showed the influence of the latest trends in design, still possessed a living quality, had every appearance of being hand-made and looked as though the potter and decorator enjoyed both making and decorating them: and it is these qualities that have endeared them to the heart of the collector ... Many of the Leeds designs were derived from the work of the silversmith and one finds instructions in the early drawing books directing the potter to fashion his ware ‘as done in silver’. Consequently during the period 1775-1802 full use was made of pierced openwork decorations. This was a class of work in which the Leeds pottery particularly excelled. The work was sharp and clean, the arrangements and shapes of the piercing were ingenious and delightful, and the general pattern well related to the ware it decorated ... The Leeds pattern book ... includes a great many examples of pierced ware, varying from very small pieces such as salt, strainers and egg-cups to magnificent cruets and chestnut baskets ... The old-fashioned shell-like forms now agve way to swags, urns, hunks, goat’s heads and acanthus leaves. In spite, hwever. Of the taming influence of the new taste, the Leeds creamware perhaps more than any other retained a great deal of its old vigour and originality. The wares were well-porportioned and balanced, the ornament was restrained and a sense of refinement in the potting and desing was never lost sight of. Some of the wares produced by the Leeds pottery at this time testify to the prodigious technical skill of its potters. Large centre-pieces more than two feet high, of elaborate design and intricate moulded decoration, made in several parts and complete with removable baskets and bottles ... ; urns with refined and complicated modelling, made to be used as candelabra ... elaborate designs for tureens, cockle-pots and pots-pourris, often enriched with figures ... were among the most ambitious productions of the pottery ... Side by side with these extravagance the humbler pieces continued to be made with much the same artistry and skill as before.“ (Towner).

& Solon (Ceramic literature) page 196; D. Towner (The Leeds pottery, London, Cory, Adams & Mackay, 1963) pages 16, 34-35 and passim; D. Towner (Creamware, London, Faber & Faber, 1978) pages 214-216; not in Kat. Berl. SEE ILLUSTRATION ON PLATE VII

79 - (Trade catalogue) Franz R. CONRAD Glogauer Strasse No 19/21 Berlin SO 36 Fabrik für Beleuchtung-Körper zu elektrischem Licht / Objets d'eclairage électrique / Fittings for electric light / Artículos de alumbrado para luz eléctrica. No date (about 1926) Catalogue n. 52.

€ 350

Rudolf Conrad founded in Berlin the company Franz R. Conrad, Fabrik für Beleuchtungs-Gegenstände zu elektrischem Licht und Gas. They produced different kind of lamps. In 1985 the name was changed in Construktions-Licht GmbH. Beautiful catalogue depicting over thousand examples of floor-lamps, table-lamps, hanging-lamps, ceiling-lamps etc.

& http://www.hellux.nl/. SEE ILLUSTRATION ON PLATE II

80 - (Trade catalogue, Carpets) DÈWHIO 590 No place (The Netherlands of Belgium), no date, but about 1920.

€ 1000

Beautiful trade catalogue including the description, samples and numerous pictures of different kind of carpets. The production was, according to the text, by mechanical loom in Europe, and apparently aimed to a more professional than hosueholding use. For the carpets of the Korassan series, for example, it is especially stressed how they are fitted for “particulier gebruik, in hotels, bij de spoorwegen, op schepen als tapijten in alle grootten …” (for domestic use, in hotels, railways, ships as carpets in all sizes). The patterns mainly remind the most famous classical oriental carpets, but examples of modern Western design, and even soberly striped of in plain color items are also present. A luxurious production, intended to impress the would-be customer.

& Bibliographically not referable for us. SEE ILLUSTRATION ON PLATE III

81 - (Trade catalogue, Typography, Cosmetics) KRAMP & Comp. Offenbach am Main. Puder. Neue Muster -Nouveautés.

€ 3500

Louis Kramp (Strasburg 1804 - Offenbach 1871) was a French-German lithographer, calligrapher and entrepreneur. He learnt the technique of colour lithography from Joseph Rose Lemercier in Paris. In 1832 he founded his own printing atelier in Offenbach, under the name of Kramp & Co. The company, one of the oldest in Germany to print lithographies, produced high quality prints and was considered one of the first to market successfully lithographic products. From around 1900, the Kramp & Co. started producing etiquettes for soap and perfume boxes, cigars as well as greetings cards. The firm became insolvent in 1999 and was taken over by Schweizer Model Group. The new firm is still existing and expanding and, among various others, maintains a production of high quality packaging for the cosmetic industry. The quality of the samples included in this album is indeed very high both from an artistic and a technical view-point. Several of them are presented in different sizes and / or different variants (with / without a golden frame). Mainly are round or square etiquettes for the cover of cosmetic boxes, together with a rectangular, elongated one to be used around the box itself. A delicate embossing is largely used. The design is in different styles, such as romantic illustrations and purely geometrical ones, several with a liberty and even art deco touch. A gorgeous catalogue in fine condition.

& http://de.wikipedia.org. SEE ILLUSTRATION ON PLATE I

82 - (Trade catalogue, Dolls) LENCI 1930. Italia, Torino,Via Cassini n. 7.

€ 500

Beautiful doll's catalogue of the company Lenci, founded in 1919 by Helenchen Köning, (Torino 1886-1974) called "Lenci", and her husband, Enrico Scavini. Main productions were dolls made in "pannolenci" a felt made of wool and mohair. It was especially invented by the Lenci for the purpose of making dolls. Later the company produced also ceramics. In 1936 the company was bought by Pilade Garella. His daughter sold the trademark to the "Bambole Italiane srl"; the production ended in 2002 for bankruptcy. The "pannolenci" is still manufactured. Many famous artists contributed to the design of both dolls and ceramics. The products of the Lenci were of a very high quality, the beautiful dolls more collection items then simply toys. An exhaustive history of the company can be found in the autobiography of Elena Köning Scavini, edited by Paola Romano Pecorelli. On p. 141 is reproduced one of the photo of the 1930 catalogue, a nice doll dressed in the traditional Breton costume.

& Elena (Lenci) Köning Scavini (Una bambola e altre creazioni. Torino, NEOS Edizioni, 2007). See also: http://www.lenci-dolls.net/History_of_Lenci_felt_dolls.html. SEE ILLUSTRATION ON PLATE II

83 - (Trade catalogue, Textiles, Japan) NANBENYA JUZÔ Komon cho (Album of small samples). No date.

€ 1500

Beautiful, delicate patterns in different colours (black, different shades of blue and brown, a few in red) including geometric and abstract designs as well as motifs with flowers and butteflies. SEE ILLUSTRATION ON PLATE I

84 - (Trade catalogue) L. E. RAGONESI Lanificio - Cartiera Catalogo Autunno Inverno 1928-29. Cosenza, L. E. Ragonesi, 1928.

€ 250

Nice trade catalogue showing the Autumn-Winter collection of fabrics for the season 1928-29. No information are available for the factory Ragonesi, based in Cosenza (Calabria, Southern Italy). The catalogue gives a pretty good idea of the kind of fabric, colours and design fashionable at the time of publication. SEE ILLUSTRATION ON PLATE III

85 - (Engraving, Art trade) De ROSSI Indice delle stampe intagliate in rame a bulino, e in acqua forte esistenti nella stamperia di Filippo De Rossi figlio del fu Domenico … In Roma, (colophon: nella stamperia di Antonio De Rossi), 1729.

€ 1800

First edition of the last version of this catalogue, one of the two issued by Filippo De Rossi. The second one appeared in 1735. Between the two catalogues there are only minimal differences, the most visible one being the list of the portraits of the cardinals appointed by Clement XIII and a longer list of those appointed by Benedict XIII (died in 1730) in the 1735 version. This catalogue reflects the composition of the stock of a prominent Roman print dealer in the moment of its maximal expansion. The absolute first catalogue containing a list of the prints sold by a dealer and engraver had been that of Antonio Lafréry, appeared in 1573 in Rome, to which that of Andrea and Michelangelo Vaccaro followed in 1614. The first catalogue of the De Rossi print shop appeared in 1677, issued by Giovan Giacomo De Rossi and was followed by several reprints. Domenico De Rossi had also several editions printed, and his heir Filippo the last two of 1729 and 1735. Filippo De Rossi tried to sell his printing shop to English purchasers in 1730, which caused the recently elected Pope Clement XIII to forbid the sale outside the Church state. An attempt of the Pope to purchase the De Rossi print shop was at first unsuccessful due to the difference in the estimations between the papal experts and De Rossi, but then a higher bid from the Pope brought to the acquisition of the print clichés by the Vatican. They constituted the nucleus of the collections of the Stamperia Camerale Apostolica, active during the XVIII century in the same line of De Rossi, and were transferred during the XIX century to the Italian print cabinet. The prints sold in the De Rossi printing shop include maps by prominent makers as Sanson and Blaeu, views of cities in Italy and abroad, views, maps and plans in relation to the Turkish campaigns. Of course a large selection of prints depicting old and modern Rome was for sale, with works by prominent authors as Sadeler (De Rossi published a reissue of the Roman antiquities of this engraver in 1660, still offered in 1735), Bellori, Falda and Barrière. Reproductions of works by Carracci, Michelangelo, Guercino, Mantegna and other Renaissance and Baroque masters are also represented, as are reproductions of pictures drawn from sacred history and mythology. Architectural works by i. a. Le Pautre, Mitelli and Vignola were also for sale. The last part of the list contained portraits of Popes and cardinals appointed by the different Popes.

& Anna Grelle Jusco (Indice delle stampe… esistenti nella stamperia di Lorenzo Filippo De Rossi … Contributo alla storia di una stamperia romana, Artemide edizioni, Roma 1996), pages 24-58 and passim; not in Cicognara, who only lists later catalogues of the Stamperia Camerale Apostolica. SEE ILLUSTRATION ON PLATE VIII

86 - (Trade catalogue, Wallpaper) Tekko Salubra (Advertising booklet of the Tekko wallpapers) Milano - Roma, 1923.

sold

Nice advertising item of wallpaper manufactured by the German company Tekko Salubra (founded in 1901, it is still active) and described as highly washable and resistant to the light. The Italian agent was Braendli & co., based in Milan and Rome. Le Corbusier designed two collections for this company. SEE ILLUSTRATION ON PLATE I

87 - (Trade catalogue) Josiah Wedgwood Catalogue de camées, intaglios, médailles, buste, petites statues, et bas-reliefs avec une description générale des vases, et autres ornements d’après les antiques fabriqués par Wedgwood et Bentley. Et qui se vendent à leur magazin dans Greek-Street, Soho, à Londres. Troisième édition considérablement augmentée. Londres, chez T. Cadell and Amsterdam, Changuion, 1774.

€ 3000

Third enlarged edition of the catalogue of the Wedgwood factory, rediged by the same Josiah Wedgwood. The first catalogue of this series had appeared only the previous year, with less pages. Editions in French had appeared simultaneously to the English ones, to secure sale on the Continental market. These catalogue contained essentially a list of the manufacts available for sale at the publication date. However, an additional reason of interest is the fact that Wedgwood states here, in the last part, his opinion on trade, stressing the effort made by his firm to achieve absolute quality and criticizing sharply the manufacturers of cheap objects which threatened his position. The emphasis laid by Wedgwood on the necessity of luxus characterizes him as a bona fide merchantilist. This is the first catalogue which mentions the Jasper, a new ceramic material manufactured by the firm and which would have become the favorite of Wedgwood himself due to its beauty in combination with its versatility. It is described as “une composition de terre cuite, qui ressemble au Porphyre, au Lapis, au Jaspe et à d’autres Pierres très belles, de l’Espèce des Verres et des Cristaux.”. “Jasper, the most famous of Josiah’s inventions, appeared first in 1774, and was the result of many experiments ... Jasper is an unglazed vitreous fine stoneware or semi-porcelain. It has been made in several shades of blue,in green, lilac, yellow, maroon, black or white, ands sometimes one piece combined three or more of these colours. Some of the finest examples of Jasper were made of one coloured body ‘dipped’ in another colour, and the edges polished and bevelled so that the base colour showed through. The white classical reliefs on a coloured ground are too well known to need description ... Wedgwood prized Jasper above all his productions ...” (Reilly I). “After numerous trial pieces, he was able to produce a stoneware, opaque and hard, from which he could make bas relief in white, with various coloured backgrounds obtained by adding coloured oxides to white clay mixture. Firing brought out the colours in the clay body. The bas relief was made by pressing the clay into intaglio moulds and applying the model by hand to the coloured clay body.” (Klamkin). “We may almost regard the jasper body as finely divided barium sulphate witht the addition of the smallest possible amount of clay which would enable the potter to fashion it into shape by the usual methods and fire it successfully.” (Burton). “The failure of the European porcelain manufacturers satisfactorily to adapt to changing taste, all combined to offer a magnificent opportunity to a potter of vision and technical ability ... Wedgwood and Bentley were, above all, the potters of neo-classicism and they were without serious rivals in the field” (Reilly II).

& Solon (Ceramic literature) page 444 (only English editions); R. Reilly (The story of  Wedgwood, Faber & Faber, London, 1962) pages 29-30; M. Klamkin (The Collector's Book of Wedgwood, New York, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1971), page 53; W. Burton (Josiah Wedgwood and his pottery, Cassell and Co. Ltd., London 1922) page 68; R. Reilly (Josiah Wedgwood 1730-1795, London: Macmillan,1992) page 152. SEE ILLUSTRATION ON PLATE VIII