Architecture | Three volumes

Architecture

Three volumes, comprising:

(i) Giovanni Poleni. Memorie istoriche della gran cupola del Tempio Vaticano, e de' danni di essa, e de' ristoramenti loro. Padua: stamperia del Seminario, 1748. Folio (433 x 315 mm), half-title, title-page with engraved vignette, engraved arms of Benedict XIV on dedication leaf, and 28 engraved plates (of which 19 folding, 9 with letterpress caption on verso), contemporary Italian vellum, title stamped in gilt to spine, sprinkled edges, first and last few leaves a trifle wormed (touching one or two letters of text), the odd bit of light foxing, extremities rubbed and wormed, [Cicognara 3842 (calling for 27 plates); Riccardi II, 297]

(ii) William Gell. The unedited antiquities of Attica; comprising the architectural remains of Eleusis, Rhamnus, Sunium, and Thoricus. London: W. Bulmer for Longman, Hurst [&c.], 1817. FIRST EDITION, folio (536 x 358 mm), half-title, 78 engraved plates, contemporary half calf gilt, some spotting and browning, joints very fragile, loss to spine, [Blackmer 1569; Contominas 680]

(iii) Antonio Nibby. Raccolta de' monumenti più celebri di Roma antica con l'aggiunta delle quattro principali basiliche di Roma moderna. Rome: Antonio Poggioli, 1818. 4to (282 x 215 mm), text in Italian and French, 40 numbered engraved plates, original green paper wrappers, printed label to upper wrapper, plate 17 loose, dampstaining throughout, wrappers stained and worn, [Rossetti 7353]

PROVENANCE:

(i) "A.N.", circular inkstamp to title-page; sale, Christie's, 5 June 2007, lot 33