PIGNORIA (Lorenzo). - Lot 25

PIGNORIA (Lorenzo). Mensa Isiaca, qua Sacrorum apud Ægyptios ratio & simulacra subjectis tabulis æneis simul exhibentur & explicantur. - Magnae deum matris idææ & attidis initia. - Manus Ænea, cecropii votum referentis, dilucidatio. Auctore Jacobo Philippo Toasino. Amsterdam: Andreæ Frisii, 1669. - 2 works in one volume in-4, stiff parchment, smooth spine (period binding). Third and most complete edition, entirely devoted to the explanation of the Table of Isis (or Isiac Table) by antiquarian Lorenzo Pignoria (1571-1631). This table, considered one of the most precious monuments of ancient Egypt, is a large engraved copper plate depicting most of the Egyptian gods and their symbols, as well as the mysteries of Isis. Stolen in 1525 during the sack of Rome, it passed through the hands of Cardinal Bembo, then the Duke of Mantua, before being preserved in Turin, where it remains to this day. The work is traditionally accompanied by a second text, divided into two distinct parts, each with its own title page. The first, also by Lorenzo Pignoria, offers an in-depth study of the pantheic hand and the statuette of Atys. The second, by Giacomo Filippo Tomasini (1595-1655), is devoted to the analysis of another hand, and concludes with a biography of Pignoria. The edition is illustrated with a frontispiece engraved by Blotelingh, a vignette on each title, 35 copper engravings (25 in the text and 9 full-page) and 12 plates (11 of which are fold-outs) depicting the Table of Isis. A fine copy in contemporary binding. Light spotting on boards and leaves. Old annotations on first white endpaper.