[Rarebooks] FS - ITALY, steel engravings by Roberts, Leitch etc.

[GREENFIELD BOOKS]

Greenfield Books is pleased to offer a masterpiece of the art of the 
mid-19th century engraver:

MAPEI, Camillo. /ITALY, Classical, Historical, and Picturesque. 
Illustrated in a Series of Views from drawings by Stansfield, Roberts, 
Harding, Prout, Leitch, Brockedon, Barnard &c. &c. with Descriptions of 
the Scenes. Preceded by An Introductory Essay, on the recent history and 
present condition of Italy and the Italians./

Published by Blackie and Son. Glasgow, Edinburgh and London. Large 4to, 
pp. cviii, 160, [1]. Bound in ruled 3/4 brown calf over "pebbled" green 
cloth; the spine in compartments with four raised bands, and morocco 
spine label, with titling and ornamentation in gilt; marbled foredges. 
All sixty full page engravings, as called for, are present.

Mapei is a relatively unknown authority (no reference to him could by 
found in the LOC Online Catalog, or OCLC), although he was educated at 
the College of San Appollinaire, in Rome, and was formerly the Canon of 
the Cathedral of Penne. It is clear, from what he has written here, that 
he had a strong distaste for "Romanism and Jesuitism", and blames the 
Church of Rome for the troubles which have befallen his native land 
since the sixteenth century, when Italy was, to use his phrase, the 
"nursing-mother of civilization". He was probably commissioned to write 
the text, which bears little - or no - relation to the engravings 
themselves. It is unclear whether or not Mapei, or Brockedon, or a third 
party, wrote the extensive commentary to accompany each of the engravings.

There is no date of publication shown, but a review of the contents 
suggests that it could not have been published earlier than 1840, and 
probably not later than 1860. The Concise Dictionary of National 
Biography, identifies Brockedon as the main force behind the issue of 
this book in 1842-44. Only three current internet references have been 
found to the book itself: one is a listing by a Danish antiquarian book 
dealer who is offering for sale a copy of this book for $2,500 US, and 
which he says was published in 1847; another is a Italian web site 
offering modern reproductions of some of the engravings from the book, 
which they say was published in 1859; and the third is another Italian 
web site offering two (Brockedon) plates, from this book, at 160 and 170 
pounds sterling. This dealer gives a date of 1856. It is possible, 
therefore, that this is a later printing of an edition published in the 
1840s.

What is incontrovertible is that it contains sixty fine full page 
engravings of illustrations by some of the most celebrated artists of 
the period, including William Brockedon (1787-1854), William Leighton 
Leitch ( (1804-1883), James Duffield Harding (1798-1863), Samuel Prout 
(1783-1852), David Roberts (1796-1864), William Cowen (1811-1860), 
Clarkson Stanfield, R.A. (1793-1867), and others. Scenes depicted 
include Vicenza, Nice, Genoa, Pisa, Florence, Civita Vecchia, Rome, 
Castel Gandolfo, Naples, Amalfi, Bologna, Como, Milan, Venice and many 
others. The quality of the reproduction of the images is exceptional: 
the views are, in most cases, not static, but depict people going about 
their daily lives.

The binding of the book is worn, especially at the extremities. The 
spine is rubbed. There is a 19th century hand-written (unrelated) 
presentation bookplate affixed to the front pastedown. The joints are 
tight but the endpapers have split at the gutters. The hinges, although 
stressed, are tight. Several of the signatures are a trifle loose - 
perhaps not so much loose, as pulled a bit from the stitching. 
Approximately half of the 60 plates have some foxing, and in several 
cases the foxing does detract from the image. We can offer digital 
photos to any serious, prospective, purchaser. Notwithstanding these 
flaws, this is a magnificent presentation of the artists' and engravers' 
art.

Price: $1,250.00

TERMS OF SALE - The price is net in U.S. funds. Payment by check, bank 
draft, or credit card (MasterCard, VISA, AMEX). Postage, packing and 
insurance will be charged at cost, and quoted in advance. Returnable 
within seven days of receipt if found to be not as described.

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