Oct 14, 2021 - Sale 2582

Sale 2582 - Lot 10

Price Realized: $ 344
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 300 - $ 500
Benigni, Fortunato. Author's Presentation Copy with ALS.
Lettera Sugli Scavi Fatti nel Circondario dell'Antica Treja.

Macerata: Presso Francesco Mancini Stampatore Dipartimentale, 1812.

First edition, engraved vignette to title, with inscription, "Mandato in dono dell'Autore ad Andrea Vici," below the imprint, illustrated with two large folding engravings and eleven full paged plates, (thirteen in total), all related to ancient ruins found at Treia; bound in original publisher's printed limp paper wraps; the letter dated 1812 also addressed from Benigni in Treia to Vici in Rome, on laid paper, with blank conjugate, inserted, both book and letter 8 x 11 in.

Benigni's correspondent, Andrea Vici (1743-1817), was an Italian engineer and architect from Marche, the same Italian region where Beigni discovered the Treja ruins detailed in this book. Vici was a student of Luigi Vanvitelli and favored the Neoclassical style. He worked on more than two dozen projects during his career. Benigni was responsible for the first major excavations of ancient finds at Treja, beginning in the 18th century. He found the ancient town's approximate location and was able to unearth walls, church building fragments, as well as the ruins of a convent.