Beschreibung:

SAINT-NON, Jean Claude Richard, Abb de (1727-1791). Voyage pittoresque ou description des royaumes de Naples et de Sicile . Paris: Clousier, 1781-1786. 4 volumes in 5, 2 (541 x 350mm). Letterpress half-titles in each volume. Engraved title vignettes, engraved calligraphic dedication leaf in vol. I, and 306 plates of views, maps and plans, with the Theodosian table and the phallus plates in vol. II, 120 engraved head- and tailpieces, of which 25 are coloured, by Auvray, Choffard, Cochin, Desmoulins, Duplessi-Bertaux, Fragonard, Pris, Hubert Robert Saint-Non, engraved by Aliamet, Bethault, Choffard, Daudet, Mme Denys, Desmoulins, Duplessi-Bertaux, Pris, Saint-Non and others, all but 35 PLATES BEFORE LETTERS, EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED WITH 7 ORIGINAL WATERCOLOURS BY A 19TH-CENTURY ARTIST AND 156 ENGRAVED OR ETCHED PROOF PLATES. (Occasional browning or light spotting.) 19th-century red half morocco (very slight wear at extremities). A FINE, EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED, UNCUT COPY, containing almost all the plates before letters, plus 156 additional plates in etched or engraved proof state. No other copy with plates in proof state (in addition to plates before letters) is known; certainly none has appeared at auction in recent decades, and Cohen-de Ricci cited only 3 copies with plates before letters. The compiler of this copy notes that plates after letters appear only when a state before letters either did not exist or was not available. The present copy also has the Theodosian Table, the additional 14 plates of medals and the Phallus plate untouched. The Phallus plate was censored on the orders of the King of Naples and is often missing or defaced. In addition, seven original watercolour drawings by an unidentified amateur artist are present, depicting: Catacombs of St. Gennariel at Naples; Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 1766; View of Vesuvius erupting as seen looking towards Portia; Fort Ricasoli at Malta; maps of Malta and Gozo; View of the Bay of Baiae; General View of the Plain of Paestum. Two additional plates, one of Mt. Vesuvius and one of Mt. Etna, are hand-coloured. Saint-Non embarked on his travels to Italy in 1759. After spending some months in 1760 at Rome, he persuaded the young artists Jean-Honor Fragonard and Hubert Robert to return with him to Naples to draw and record the sites and ancient art. Back in Paris, Saint-Non selected drawings to reproduce in engraving and began to work towards an ambitious project entitled Tableaux topographiques, pittoresques, physiques, [etc] de la Suisse et de l'Italie . Lack of success with the first volumes devoted to Switzerland led Saint-Non to reconsider his project and to work instead towards a large work concentrating on southern Italy only. Saint-Non oversaw the artistic side of the work while his co-publisher Laborde oversaw the preparation of a text. Dominique Vivant Denon led a group of artists to draw in situ, travelling to Naples in 1777 with Claude-Louis Chtelet, Louis-Jean Desprez and Jean-Augustin Renard, while Pierre-Adrien Pris travelled on his own to sketch primarily Herculaneum. The success of the first part, published in 1781, was immediate, and, despite its high price, editions in English and German were prepared. The Voyage pittoresque is of particular importance for the illustrations of ancient sites and artefacts. Pris was one of the first artists allowed to draw directly at the site of Herculaneum; drawing and note-taking at Herculaneum were restricted during its early excavation. Also, an earthquake at Messina in 1783 damaged much of the city, so that Denon's drawings are an important source for the city view before that event. Similarly Denon's drawings record the cathedral at Palermo before Ferdinando Fuga's intervention. See P. Lamers, Il viaggio nel Sud dell'Abb de Saint-Non , Naples: 1995. Blackmer 1473; Cohen de Ricci 928-30. (5)