Ferro - Teatro d’ imprese - 1623

Ferro Giovanni

Theatre of Enterprises (Part One-Second)
In Venetia - 1623 -
Appresso Giacomo Sarzina

(36), 296; (180), 728, (2) p.
a8 b10 A-S8 T4; a-k8 l10 A-2Y8 2Z4 X.

In folio - 32 X 23 cm. -
Corsivo romano.

FIRST AND ONLY EDITION, PARTICULARLY RARE, OF THIS ERUDITE WORK ON ENIGRAMS AND EMBLEMS.

With numerous references and allusions to the most illustrious authors of the genre (Capaccio, Ruscelli, Giovio, Bargagli, etc..)

“Considered the most vast and rare ancient work of emblems, born to feed the deep interest of Cardinal Barberini in symbolic images”
BMC XVII, 339
MICHEL III, 38
PRAZ 355-336
VINET 865

Contains:

two magnificent frontispieces engraved by Gaspare Grispolti.
The first with the portraits of scholars and illustrious figures within 10 oval frames supported by festal cupids, while the second is adorned by a sumptuous architectural construction consisting of 11 figures of divinities, heroes and allegorical figures.

2 dedication plates engraved; the first at a4v of the first part, with in the center the portrait of Cardinal Matteo Barberini, future Pope Urban VIII, dedicatee of the work, the second on the card A5r
featuring a sumptuous classical architectural motif with the Barberini family arms and 16 emblems within Baroque frames.

Portrait of the author on the verso of the last preliminary leaf relating to the second part (l10v).

451 engravings of emblems, hieroglyphs, crests and views of various sizes, each containing one or more figures with the corresponding Latin motto.

The descriptive part, with an index referring to over 4000 mottos, reveals Ferro’s solid and vast erudition, and the iconography shows a remarkable and refined skill of the engraver artist.

The first part is devoted to the theory of the emblem and its composition, its applications and the comparison with other figures; medals, heraldic crests, hieroglyphs, fables and numbers. The author bases his study on more than 50 preceding works, of which he provides the list.

The second part presents to us, in the form of an encyclopedia, the emblems classified by theme or pictorial analogies, accompanied by a rich commentary.

Excellent and sturdy twentieth-century half-leather binding with corners and stiff marbleized boards.
Spine with four nerves, with handwritten title in style.

Internals very well preserved, with fresh and clean pages, including the flyleaf, the frontispieces, the portraits, the plates, and the 451 emblems, even of large size, all perfectly inked.
No defects to report other than a slight physiological browning.
Twentieth-century flyleaves.

Excellent and rare copy, especially complete in all its parts.
BOUND. COMPLETE