"UNPARALLELED AMONG THE SUMPTUOUS VOYAGE PITTORESQUE PUBLICATIONS"

SAINT-NON (JEAN CLAUDE RICHARD DE).

Voyage pittoresque ou Description des Royaumes de Naples et de Sicile. 4 Vols in 5.

Paris, (Clousier imprimeur), 1781-86.

Folio. (51 x 33,5 cm.). Bound to style in 5 uniform full light brown sprinckled full calf (bound in the 1970 ties). Blindtooled lineborders and blindtooled dentelles with blindtooled cornerpieces on covers. 7 raised bands. bands with gilding. Compartments gilt with flowers. Inner hinges in leather. Marbled endpapers. No wear to bindings. 5 halftitles, 5 title-pages with engraved vignette. I: (4),XIII,(3),252 pp. Without an engraved dedication-leaf (called for by Brunet "épitre dédicatoire gravée). II: (4),XXVIII,283 pp. III: (4),XL,201,22 pp. IV: (4),II,(6),XVIII,266 pp. V: (4),(2),267-429,(1) pp., 434 engravings on 317 sheets, including the 14 plates with medals and coins (doubles médailles) + 13 mostly double-page engraved maps, plans and charts. More than 100 larger and smaller vignettes, head-and tailpieces, ornaments etc., 25 in 2 colours. Wide-margined with very few brownspots (a small brownspot on the phallus-plate in volume II), a few leaves with small closed tears in margin, 1 leaf having a printed line repaired (a weakness in the paper) but no loss of letters. Foot of last leaves in volume II with very light foxing. Plates and text fine a clean, gently washed.

First edition of this renowned travelbook, one of the most successful travel books ever published - "the completed work is one of the most beautiful that a private person has ever produced, and it is unparalleled among the sumptuous voyage pittoresque publications". (Millard French,148).

In 1759, Claude Richard Saint-Non (1727-1791) was relieved of his duties as a deacon and lawyer, and undertook a cavalier tour through Italy in the years 1759-1761 with the painters Jean-Honoré Fragonard and Hubert Robert. His publication project of a Voyage pittoresque initially envisaged five volumes on the whole of Italy and a volume on Switzerland, but then limited itself to only southern Italy. For the etchings Saint-Non on the one hand on some older pictures by Robert and Fragonard among others. On the other hand, the 61 employed engravers worked mainly on documents which had been supplied by a group of artists traveling on his behalf under the direction of Dominique Vivant Denon, secretary of the French Ambassador in Italy, in 1777/78. Volume I deals with the history, buildings, artists and customs of Naples and Vesuvius with its outbursts. Volume II is dedicated to Herculaneum and Pompeii; Volume III deals with Southern Italy (including Paestum and Capri). Sicily is treated in volumes IV and V.

Brunet V,55-56. - Cohen-de Ricci, 928-29. - Ray, French Illustr. Books, 34.

Order-nr.: 54307