DESEINE (François). - Lot 37

DESEINE (François). Beschryving van oud en niew Rome. Amsterdam: François Halma, 1704. - 2 folio volumes, 393 x 240: frontispiece, (12 ff.), 22 pp. pp. *22-*23, pp. 23-118, (2 ff.), pp. 121-160, 5 maps, 1 plan, 70 plates; frontispiece, (8 ff.), pp. 161-360, (2 ff.), pp. 363-479, (41 ff.), 1 map, 1 plan, 25 plates. Stiff white parchment, framed with cold fillets and cold interlacing iron in the center of the boards, ribbed spine (period binding). Original edition in Low German and Dutch, dedicated to Nicolaes Witsen (1641-1717), burgomaster of Amsterdam. It is a translation of the French work by man of letters and geographer François-Jacques Deseine (....-1715), published in 1690 under the title Description de la Ville de Rome. The work is divided into three parts and traces the history of Rome, from its foundation to the reigns of emperors and popes, combining historical, archaeological and literary approaches. It deals, as the title indicates, with "its quarters, temples, senates, churches, palaces and other remarkable buildings, but also with the ancient and present states; secular or ecclesiastical, including their manners and ceremonies." The section on ancient Rome is followed by a text by art historian Giovanni Pietro Bellori (1613-1696) on the paintings in the Nasoni tomb, discovered in 1674 in the Via Flamina area. This edition is highly sought-after, as the publisher has chosen to enrich it with numerous beautiful copper-engraved illustrations. These include two frontispieces, 3 title vignettes, 3 lettrines, 3 headpieces, 22 in-text compositions, 2 plans, 6 maps and 95 plates, all engraved by Jan Goeree (1670-1731) and Livinus Cruyel (c. 1640-c. 1720), and by Pietro Sante Bartoli (1635-1700) for Bellori's text engravings. The folding map of the ancient city of Rome is remarkable. Good copy in contemporary binding. Some soiling and stains to bindings, although these appear to have been cleaned. Hinge of first boards partly split. The ink inscriptions on the spine post-date the binding. Non-missing tear at the fold of the plate on page 300. The leaf before page 121 has been misplaced; it should appear before leaf ***1 in the second volume.