Vittorio Zonca / Pietro Bertelli - Novo Teatro di Machine et Edificii - 1607

Full-leather binding with gold frames on the boards. Spine with 4 raised bands and gilt title, author, date, place, monogram and ornaments.

1 blank leaf, [4], 115, 1 blank leaf

First edition, published posthumously, of the first Italian book on machines, written by Vittorio Zonca (1568-1602), a Padovan architect and engineer who drew inspiration for the work from drawings found in a manuscript (Trattado di architectura), written around 1475 and never published, by the Senese engineer-architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439-1501). It is one of the finest books of mechanical engineering: it depicts and explains various types of machines, some invented or perfected by the author himself, among them the “strettoio per far il vino”, the “torchio per stampar i libri”, the “machina da voltar spiedi per cuocer le vivande”, the “machina per follar panni di lana”, etc.

Of great technological interest are also the plates depicting various types of mills. The beautiful architectural title page and the 42 full-page plates engraved on copper are by Pietro Bertelli, engraver and printer, who worked in the Veneto region and in Rome.

Frontespizio architettonico inciso a piena pagina. 42 belle tavole fuori testo. Capolettera e testatine.

The first 4 pages have been restored, including the title page and the first plate. Significant restorations also from p. 104 to p. 112. A browning darkens the leaves at the lower outer corner along two-thirds of the volume. Small hole at p. 56. Further restorations at pp. 18-19 and 28-29. A large strip of paper applied at p. 86 as a reinforcement. An overall specimen in fair condition, leaves a bit soiled and with multiple restorations but still usable and complete.