Alberti, Trattato della nobilta della pittura, Rome, 1585, later half calf, Storck copy

ALBERTI, ROMANO. Trattato della nobilta della pittura. Composto ad instantia della venerabil' compagnia di S. Luca, et nobil'academia delli pittori di Roma. Da Romano Alberti della citta del Borgo S. Sepolcro. Rome: Francesco Zannetti, 1585

FIRST EDITION of Romano Alberti's discourse on the philosophy of painting, describing its connections with poetry and rhetoric, as well as more spiritual and religious concepts. Alberti, a member of the Accademia di San Luca in Rome, provides support for his arguments from writers both ancient and modern; Pliny, Cicero, Plutarch, Clavius, Cardinal Paleotti and Paolo Pino, the latter a Venetian artist and the author of a dialogue on painting published in 1548.

4to (210 x 157 mm). Roman type, 28 lines plus headline. Collation: +⁴ A b C-G⁴: 31 leaves (of 32, without final blank leaf). Woodcut printer's device on title-page, woodcut initials. (Quire C misbound, small repair at foot of D1, repaired wormhole in gutter of last few quires, occasional light staining.)

Binding: Nineteenth-century half calf over marbled boards (212 x 164 mm), spine with gilt lettering. (Extremities slightly rubbed.)

Provenance: Giuseppe Storck (1766-1836, collector of prints), inscription dated Milan, 1806, and inventory number 14420 written on title-page and at end (his extensive print collection was sold to Vallardi and Samuel Woodburn in 1817) — GAV, monogram stamp at foot of title-page (not in Lugt; Giuseppe Vallardi?) — Libreria Antiquaria Mediolanum, Milan, booklabel. Acquisition: Purchased in 2009 from Mediolanum, catalogue 37, item 7. References: Edit16 732