FONTANA, Domenico (1543-1607). Della trasportatione dell' obelisco Vaticano - Libro secondo in cui si ragiona di alcune fabriche fatte in Roma, et in Napoli . Naples: Constantino Vitale, 1604. 2° (406 x 272mm), 2 parts. Engraved title, frontispiece portrait of Fontana, both by Natal Bonifacio, 38 engraved plates in part I, 3 of which are double-page, 18 plates in part II, 4 of which are double-page, and 4 additional plates at end, including one double-sheet, 3 text (one engraved) diagrams in part I, woodcut initials and typographical head- and tailpieces. (Title on guard, small tears and occasional neat repairs to text and plates, three plates slightly shaved, one plate lightly ink-spotted, additional folding plate at end lightly stained and neatly repaired at folds.) Old vellum (spine worn, recased). Provenance : early title inscription partly erased; Rome, Collegio S. Antonio (library stamp on I3). Second edition of the first part and FIRST EDITION of part two. Fontana supervised the engineering feat of the century, moving the Vatican obelisk; the effort required over 900 men, 150 horses and 47 cranes and took four and a half months (from 30 April to 10 September 1586) to complete. For this edition the Neapolitan printer Vitale used the same copper-plates from the 1590 Rome edition but increased the documentation of Fontana's work considerably by adding a second part containing 18 plates plus descriptions. This copy has 3 additional plates at the end, depicting the mausoleum of Pope Sixtus V in S. Maria Maggiore, the mausoleum of Philip II in Naples, and the mausoleum of Conte de Lemos at Naples by Julius Caesar Fontana. Berlin Kat. 2652; Fowler 125; Mortimer, Harvard Italian 193.
FONTANA, Domenico (1543-1607). Della trasportatione dell' obelisco Vaticano - Libro secondo in cui si ragiona di alcune fabriche fatte in Roma, et in Napoli . Naples: Constantino Vitale, 1604. 2° (406 x 272mm), 2 parts. Engraved title, frontispiece portrait of Fontana, both by Natal Bonifacio, 38 engraved plates in part I, 3 of which are double-page, 18 plates in part II, 4 of which are double-page, and 4 additional plates at end, including one double-sheet, 3 text (one engraved) diagrams in part I, woodcut initials and typographical head- and tailpieces. (Title on guard, small tears and occasional neat repairs to text and plates, three plates slightly shaved, one plate lightly ink-spotted, additional folding plate at end lightly stained and neatly repaired at folds.) Old vellum (spine worn, recased). Provenance : early title inscription partly erased; Rome, Collegio S. Antonio (library stamp on I3). Second edition of the first part and FIRST EDITION of part two. Fontana supervised the engineering feat of the century, moving the Vatican obelisk; the effort required over 900 men, 150 horses and 47 cranes and took four and a half months (from 30 April to 10 September 1586) to complete. For this edition the Neapolitan printer Vitale used the same copper-plates from the 1590 Rome edition but increased the documentation of Fontana's work considerably by adding a second part containing 18 plates plus descriptions. This copy has 3 additional plates at the end, depicting the mausoleum of Pope Sixtus V in S. Maria Maggiore, the mausoleum of Philip II in Naples, and the mausoleum of Conte de Lemos at Naples by Julius Caesar Fontana. Berlin Kat. 2652; Fowler 125; Mortimer, Harvard Italian 193.
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
