Giuseppe Vasi (1710–1782) - Delle magnificenze di Roma antica e moderna - 1900

Exceptional decorative impact and high collectible value: a splendid and homogeneous matching pair of album-format volumes, containing the first two monumental sections of the work by the famous vedutist Giuseppe Vasi (1710–1782), master of Giovanni Battista Piranesi.

The lot comprises two consecutive tomes of the twentieth-century edition, 100% complete with all original text and the full 40 copperplate engravings:
Book I (Text dated 1753): dedicated to "The Ancient Basilicas and Churches of Rome." It contains the dedication to Pope Benedict XIV and the plates numbered progressively from XLI to LX (opening with the majestic view of St. Peter in the Vatican).
Book II (Text dated 1754): dedicated to "The Palaces and the most famous Streets of Rome." It contains the dedication to Queen Elisabeth Farnese and the plates numbered progressively from LXI to LXXX (for a total of 20 large engravings in this second volume).

This is not a common black-and-white commercial edition. The two volumes belong to a special 20th-century edition of superb value, enhanced with masterful manual artistic craftsmanship:
All 40 large plates have been entirely watercolored with extraordinary technical skill. The blended skies, architectural details, and the figures animating the streets of Rome acquire a painterly rendering worthy of a decorative painting.

Inside the counterplates lies the evocative decorative calligraphic endpaper of the 20th century, bearing a painted crest and the inscription "Medici - Chiese di Roma," which historically maps the passage of the two volumes within a prestigious and elegant private collection of the 1900s.

Condition and State of Conservation:
General condition very good and stable for a paper-based work of the 19th century. It is noted the widespread and completely natural presence of historical foxing and light yellowing of the paper over time, marks typical and physiological that attest to the absolute authenticity of the antique paper support and do not compromise its aesthetic enjoyability.