Dec 01, 2016 - Sale 2433

Sale 2433 - Lot 137

Unsold
Estimate: $ 5,000 - $ 7,500
(ARTISTS' MANUALS.) Piazzetta, Giambatista [Giovanni Battista]. Studi di Pittura gia dissegnati da . . . Piazzetta ed con ora l'intalgio di Marco Pitteri. Title-page printed in red and black with engraved vignette; engraved portrait frontispiece of Piazzetta with Latin quotation, another (self) portrait in biographical text of Piazzetta by the artist's friend and publisher, Albrizzi; engraved figural initials, decorative head- and tailpieces, and 48 hors texte engraved plates with 24 subjects (24 engraved by Francesco Bartolozzi in outline with cross-hatching and 24 by Marco Pitteri with roulette work). Oblong folio, 254x432 mm; 13x17 inches, contemporary marbled paper; title foxed, with strong vertical creases and one 2-inch clean tear from bottom edge, repairs to clean tears on pages [3-5] and 1, 5, and 6; plates loose as issued, scattered light and minor worming until plate 39 where it increases in frequency to the final plate, penciled numbers in upper corners and a few occasional unobtrusive short marginal tears and toning to deckles; modern custom plain cloth clamshell box. Venice: Giovanni Battista Albrizzi, 1760

Additional Details

first edition of the great drawing manual published in the golden age of illustrated books in Venice. The self-portrait, dated 1738, is noted as the only surviving etching by Piazzetta himself. Cicognara 345.