BETTI, Giovanni Battista A' Dilettanti delle Bell' Arti. Florence: Niccolò Pagni, 1785. Small oblong 2° (195 x 260mm.). Engraved allegorical title with Apollo and Cupid displaying the contents of the book, by Betti after 'G. Fr.', 24 engraved plates showing letters of the alphabet adorned with mythological figures. (Plate 'F' repaired, plate 'I' slightly soiled, lower edges of a few plates just trimmed.) Modern half red morocco, spine gilt. Provenance: Andrea Galeotti, given by Mon. Rev. Sig. D. Guiseppe Querci (inscription on title, dated 1815). A rare and charming 18th-century calligraphic alphabet, which, as it is Italian, excludes the letters J and W. The artist 'G. Fr.' is sadly unidentified. The engraver and etcher, Betti, was active in Florence and Rome in the late 18th century. Each letter is illustrated either with a mythological, allegorical or classical personage whose name begins with that letter, or, as in the case of C, K, L and Y, with scherzi which normally include putti. The letter X is illustrated with Tityrus (from Virgil's first eclogue). Four of the figures have been squared up in pencil for transfer, and the letter T has been misbound after 'I'.
BETTI, Giovanni Battista A' Dilettanti delle Bell' Arti. Florence: Niccolò Pagni, 1785. Small oblong 2° (195 x 260mm.). Engraved allegorical title with Apollo and Cupid displaying the contents of the book, by Betti after 'G. Fr.', 24 engraved plates showing letters of the alphabet adorned with mythological figures. (Plate 'F' repaired, plate 'I' slightly soiled, lower edges of a few plates just trimmed.) Modern half red morocco, spine gilt. Provenance: Andrea Galeotti, given by Mon. Rev. Sig. D. Guiseppe Querci (inscription on title, dated 1815). A rare and charming 18th-century calligraphic alphabet, which, as it is Italian, excludes the letters J and W. The artist 'G. Fr.' is sadly unidentified. The engraver and etcher, Betti, was active in Florence and Rome in the late 18th century. Each letter is illustrated either with a mythological, allegorical or classical personage whose name begins with that letter, or, as in the case of C, K, L and Y, with scherzi which normally include putti. The letter X is illustrated with Tityrus (from Virgil's first eclogue). Four of the figures have been squared up in pencil for transfer, and the letter T has been misbound after 'I'.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
