MITELLI (Giuseppe Maria). Alfabeto in sogno. Di... - Lot 262 - Ader

Lot 262
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Estimation :
7000 - 8000 EUR
MITELLI (Giuseppe Maria). Alfabeto in sogno. Di... - Lot 262 - Ader
MITELLI (Giuseppe Maria). Alfabeto in sogno. Di Giuseppe Ma Mitelli. Pittore bolognese. Without address, nor place. 1683. [Bologna. About 1730?] In-folio (41 x 29 cm). Title, preface, (23) plates, all illustrated and engraved: cold-stamped vellum boards with frames, five-ribbed spine (modern pastiche binding). Extremely rare alphabet, masterpiece of the Bolognese artist, Giuseppe Maria Mitelli (1634-1718). A key figure in the Italian production of engravings, he was the son of the painter and engraver Agostino Mitelli (1609-1660). In the preface to his pupils, the artist explains, in a very imaginative way, how, in an inspired dream, Morpheus, god of dreams and son of sleep, commands him to represent letters of the alphabet through forms and visions of the art of drawing. The letters become an excuse to bring together sketches of the features of man and nature, creating totally new images. The work thus becomes a real manual for his students to learn the art of imitation and the numerous anatomical drawings accompanying the initials. On a strong watermarked laid paper, engraved title with a large A carrying the text like a painting on an easel, preface, in engraved cursive letters, framed with the artist's tools, and twenty-three plates of engravings with the capital letter formed by the body of a man or a woman and, most often, drawings of anatomy or animals, and some cherubs, filling all the remaining space of the engraving. One can imagine that the portrait of the O ["The O of the painters who never have money"] is perhaps that of the artist. Three lines of verse, in the engraving, underline it. No J and U, these letters being one with the I and V. Second edition, with large margins, on a strong laid paper, which would be the realization of the Bolognese printer and editor Lelio Dalla Volpe (1685-1749). A precious copy, very well preserved, with a minor worm work in the inner margin of some plates.
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