PIRANESI, Giovanni Battista (1720-1778). Antichita d'Albano e di Castel Gandolfo. Rome: 1764. Letterpress half-title, plates and final text leaf mounted on guards. Etched title, double-page dedication to Pope Clement XIII, 26 plates, one folding, 11 double-page, one initial and one head-piece. (Small rust-hole in plate numbered XXI). [ Bound with :] G.B.PIRANESI. Descrizione e disegno dell'Emissario del Lago Albano. Rome: 1762. Plates mounted on guards. Etched title, 9 plates, one folding, 7 double-page, one initial and tail-piece. (Light dampstaining to lower inner margins of text leaves, without Focillon 536 bis , not called for by descriptive text.). [ And :] G.B.PIRANESI. Di due spelonche ornate dagli antichi alla riva del Lago Albano. [Rome: 1762]. Plates mounted on guards. 12 etched plates, one folding, 5 double-page, and one head-piece. (Small tear to lower blank margin of folding plate, light dampstaining to lower inner margins of text leaves). 3 works in one volume, 2° (538 x 404mm). Contemporary mottled calf gilt, coroneted 'P' of the Dukes of Portland at centre of covers (spine rubbed and neatly repaired). Provenance : William Henry 3rd Duke of Portland (1738-1809, binding, by descent to:); William Arthur, 6th Duke of Portland (1857-1943, armorial bookplate). Piranesi became fascinated with Lake Albano and the ancient Roman engineering feat of draining the lake by boring a tunnel beneath what became Castel Gandolfo. The Descrizione describes the site and its historical background and depicts it with both technical plans and evocative views. In his researches into the tunnel, Piranesi came across two grottoes by the shore, which he depicts in Di due spelonche . Pope Clement XIII was impressed by these two earlier works and encouraged Piranesi to continue his investigation of the area surrounding Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence. The result was Antichita d'Albano , dedicated to Clement XIII. These three works are often found bound together, indeed Focillon treats the third work as an appendix to the second. Focillon pp.315-318; Hind pp.85-86.
PIRANESI, Giovanni Battista (1720-1778). Antichita d'Albano e di Castel Gandolfo. Rome: 1764. Letterpress half-title, plates and final text leaf mounted on guards. Etched title, double-page dedication to Pope Clement XIII, 26 plates, one folding, 11 double-page, one initial and one head-piece. (Small rust-hole in plate numbered XXI). [ Bound with :] G.B.PIRANESI. Descrizione e disegno dell'Emissario del Lago Albano. Rome: 1762. Plates mounted on guards. Etched title, 9 plates, one folding, 7 double-page, one initial and tail-piece. (Light dampstaining to lower inner margins of text leaves, without Focillon 536 bis , not called for by descriptive text.). [ And :] G.B.PIRANESI. Di due spelonche ornate dagli antichi alla riva del Lago Albano. [Rome: 1762]. Plates mounted on guards. 12 etched plates, one folding, 5 double-page, and one head-piece. (Small tear to lower blank margin of folding plate, light dampstaining to lower inner margins of text leaves). 3 works in one volume, 2° (538 x 404mm). Contemporary mottled calf gilt, coroneted 'P' of the Dukes of Portland at centre of covers (spine rubbed and neatly repaired). Provenance : William Henry 3rd Duke of Portland (1738-1809, binding, by descent to:); William Arthur, 6th Duke of Portland (1857-1943, armorial bookplate). Piranesi became fascinated with Lake Albano and the ancient Roman engineering feat of draining the lake by boring a tunnel beneath what became Castel Gandolfo. The Descrizione describes the site and its historical background and depicts it with both technical plans and evocative views. In his researches into the tunnel, Piranesi came across two grottoes by the shore, which he depicts in Di due spelonche . Pope Clement XIII was impressed by these two earlier works and encouraged Piranesi to continue his investigation of the area surrounding Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence. The result was Antichita d'Albano , dedicated to Clement XIII. These three works are often found bound together, indeed Focillon treats the third work as an appendix to the second. Focillon pp.315-318; Hind pp.85-86.
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