Beschreibung:

2 parts in 1 vol., first edition, etched throughout, 29 plates comprising title, dedication, two leaves of inscriptions, the second with index of plates, title to second part and 24 numbered plates by Piranesi, two after Israel Sylvestre, without the unnumbered plate “Arco di Galieno” sometimes present but not called for in the index, the numbering of plate 1 uncorrected, very fine early impressions with plate tone, the guidelines for the lettering on the four preliminary plates still visible, watermarks of a fleur-de-lys within a circle below the letter B (Robison 3, dated to 1748), a few isolated marginal spots but a very clean and wide-margined copy, contemporary Roman boards, edges untrimmed, dust-stained and slightly worn, foot of backstrip split, title Antichita Romane / Giambat: Piranesi in a contemporary hand at top left of upper cover, bookplate removed from inside front cover, ink price(?) S[cud]i 5 on front free endpaper, [Hind pp75-76; Wilton-Ely C.III], folio (355 x 450 mm), Rome, Piranesi, [c.1748.] *** An unsophisticated copy in its primary binding of the series described by Hind as “… amongst his purest etchings in their early state before rework… From the purely artistic side there is scarcely anything more attractive in Piranesi’s work than this early series.” Wilton-Ely adds: “These exquisite plates, based on sketches made during Piranesi’s travels in Italy, c.1743-47, … may be considered among the artist’s graphic masterpieces. They possess a unity and range of experiment lacking in the Varie Vedute and even in the early plates of the larger Vedute di Roma, which probably overlap this series in time.” The first part deals with ruins within Rome and the second with ruins outside the city. The plates were retouched and reissued after 1761 under the title Alcune vedute di arche trionfali ed altri monumenti. The first plate appears to be an unrecorded variant. The rococo border, etched on a separate copperplate, is printed upside down.