Description
Rome: Battista Bernabò e Giuseppe Lazzarini, 1763. First edition, 2 vols., 4to., interleaved throughout, with 1 engraved folding map, 96 engraved plates, 2 engraved headpieces and 2 vignettes, contemporary vellum, some wear to heads, tails of spines and to edges, covers with some staining (2)
Footnote
Note: One of the most important books on the topography of Ancient Rome in the 18th century, it contains 96 fine engraved plates including 19 by Giovanni Battista Piranesi. They were first published in his Varie Vedute of 1748. A complete catalogue of Venuti's works, complete lists of the members of the Roman Society of Antiquaries and of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of London is given at end of vol. 2. Both books with the ownership signature of Sir William Watson, FRS (3 April 1715 -10 May 1787), English physician and scientist and with the bookplate of the architect Percy B. Tubbs (1868-1933). The Directory of British Architects, 1834-1914, Vol. 2, p. 840 notes Tubbs' particular interest in collecting works on the topography of ancient Rome, and especially in the works of Piranesi.