Palazzi - Aquila Saxonica - 1673

SYMBOLS AND BLOOD: DRAGON, EAGLE AND CROWN, THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF IMPERIAL POWER
FIRST EDITION 1673 by Giovanni Palazzi or Joannes Palatius (1643-1712).
Two parts in a single volume, a splendid illustrated book on the first German kings from the 800s to 1100s who unified the kingdom of Germany and Italy under the Holy Roman Empire.
82 COPPER ENGRAVINGS and numerous full-page plates measuring height 380 x width 260.
A masterpiece of iconography that celebrates the ascent and consolidation of the Holy Roman Empire under the Saxon rulers. A splendid example of Baroque illustrated historiography, the work blends historical rigor, symbolic imagery and figurative magnificence, in a high-quality edition dedicated to an educated audience devout to imperial authority.
MARKET VALUE
The work is rare and highly prized among collectors of 17th-century illustrated books: complete and good-condition copies typically range from €3,000 to €6,000, with higher prices for copies in contemporary bindings or richly decorated. Value increases significantly if the plates are well preserved, with sharp impressions and wide margins. Copies with original binding, a frontispiece in excellent condition and no invasive restorations are increasingly sought after at international auctions dedicated to Baroque visual and political culture.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION - COLLECTOR’S COPY
In Folio: height 380 mm x width 260 mm or 14.9 x 10.3 inches. Two parts in one volume, complete edition. Pages [6], 254; 65, [1], followed by [6] for the index, followed by 1 blank sheet attached to the frontispiece. With 1 full-page copper frontispiece, red and black frontispiece with large copper vignette, 1 full-page portrait of Louis XIV and 7 splendid full-page engravings of allegories, portraits and 1 genealogical tree, as well as 72 copper portraits of kings, emperors and European sovereigns in the text. An excellent contemporary calf copy, solid binding with repaired joints. Some signs of wear, light stains and some flaking on the plates, but solid. Spine with 6 ridges, with gold titles on a red label and gold decorations on compartments, frontispieces in marbled paper, red edges. A good example of this history of the German emperors, beautifully illustrated with numerous finely engraved portraits, and dedicated to the Sun King or Louis XIV. Pages and plates are clean, occasional light stains and rare defects. Text in Latin.
FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Aquila Saxonica, sub qua imperatores Saxones ab Henrico Aucupe usque ad Henricum Sanctum Occidentis imperatorem XV, elogiis, hierogliphycis, numismatibus, insignibus, simbolis, imaginibus antiquis ad vivum exhibentur exculpti & longa historiarum serie exarati.
Venetiis, apud Jacobum Herz, 1673.
Giovanni Palazzi.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The work celebrates the five Saxon emperors—from Henry the Fowler to Henry II the Saint—who unified Germany and Italy under the sovereignty of the Holy Roman Empire. Palazzi narrates with erudition the wars, dynastic alliances, legal reforms and relations with the Church, enriching the account with a sumptuous gallery of portraits, coats of arms, coins, historical and mythological scenes. The symbolic apparatus is conceived as a true initiatory imperial journey, in which every image bears allegorical value and every page is a micro-narrative of power. The allegory culminates in the triumphant figure of Louis XIV subduing the seven-headed dragon, a symbol of evil and political disintegration: a powerful image of imperial authority as the orderly force and guarantor of Christian European balance. The text, marked by strict legal and historiographical rigor, intertwines with a visual program that reflects Baroque culture of power, iconographic control and the sacralization of monarchy.

AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY
Giovanni Palazzi (c. 1625–1701), historian, jurist and engraver, was professor of Canon Law at the University of Padua and a counselor to Emperor Leopold I. A cultured and versatile figure, he combined source analysis with a taste for visual staging, adopting an approach that fused law, symbolism and art. He was also the author of legal treatises and canonical commentaries, but Aquila Saxonica represents his most ambitious publishing project, in which the figure of the emperor is portrayed as guarantor of universal harmony and historical continuity.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Printed in Venice at Jacobus Herz, Aquila Saxonica was conceived as a high-profile celebratory work, intended for court libraries, scholarly circles and European chancelleries. Distribution was limited but selective: copies circulated in imperial centers, with ambassadors and church officials tied to the imperial Curia. The author’s direct involvement in the design of the engravings ensured a very high level of coherence between text and image. The volume sits within the tradition of emblem books of the Empire, alongside works by Valvasor, Picinelli and Menestrier.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
F. W. Sanders, Symbolic Images in Baroque Historiography, Leiden, 1999
Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, s.v. “Palazzi, Giovanni”
R. Mandrella, L’iconografia del potere: Luigi XIV e l’Europa barocca, Paris, 2008
I. Rowland, The Culture of the Book in Baroque Venice, Rome, 2012
M. Fagiolo, Barocco e Neobarocco, Rome–Bari, 2004
C. Ginzburg, Simboli, riti e storia, Turin, 2000
C. D. Eberhart, Heraldry and Imperial Identity in Early Modern Europe, Cambridge, 2011
OPAC ICCU – Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana; WorldCat OCLC 954326253