Pittoni, Imprese nobili et ingeniose, Venice, 1583, later vellum

PITTONI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA. Imprese nobili, et ingeniose di diversi prencipi, et d'altri personaggi illustri nell'arme et nelle lettere. Le quali, col disegno loro estrinseco, dimostrano l'animo, et la buona, o mala fortuna de gli autori loro. Con le dichiarationi in versi di m. Lodovico Dolce et d'altri. Venice: Francesco Ziletti, 1583

This 1583 re-edition of Pittoni's fourth emblem book contains the same illustrations as the 1578 Porro edition, with the imprese of rulers, cardinals, churchmen and statesmen, from Charles V to Charles of Lorraine, numerous minor Italian noblemen, and literary and artistic characters such as Girolamo Ruscelli, Lodovico Dolce, Titian and Pittoni himself.

Following the title-page, this copy includes an engraving of the monument commemorating the arrival of King Henri III of France to Venice in 1574, then the full-page engraving of a monumental fireplace dedicated to Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Savoy by Niccolò Nelli. Again, copies of Pittoni and Dolce's imprese seem to have been issued with varying contents and this copy is closest to Landwehr 608.

4to (257 x 206 mm). 71 leaves (unsigned). Engraved title-page, 2 full-page engravings, 68 plates of engraved devices each within a decorative frame, with accompanying poem within a unique frame. (First few leaves reinforced at gutter, small wormholes in second and third leaves indicating that they have been placed there more recently, small tear to fore-edge of plate 16, minor soiling.)

Binding: Nineteenth-century vellum (266 x 214mm), frame of single red line, title lettered in red and black on spine, edges gilt. (Binding slightly rubbed, small sections of rear endpaper excised) 

Provenance: Charles Henri Auguste Schéfer (1820-1898, collector of Islamic manuscripts), armorial bookplate, sale, Paris, 8 May 1899, lot 223 — M. Lugol, armorial bookplate. Acquisition: Purchased in 1990 from Maggs Bros, London. references: Edit16 17419; Landwehr, Romanic Emblem Books 608