Italy - Udine; Francesco Scoto (1548/ 1622), Mattio Cadorin (detto Bolzetta) - veduta prospettica a volo d'uccello - 1651-1660

Title of the work: Itinerario, overo nova descrittione de' viaggi principali d'Italia. It was the most famous and widespread guide for travelers of the Grand Tour in Italy throughout the XVII and XVIII centuries.

This edition dedicated to Abate Ruberto Papafava ("Dedicato all'Illustriss. et Reverendiss. Sig. Abbate Ruberto Papafava Nobile Veneto"), corresponds to the Padua editions from the mid-17th century, in particular those published in the years 1654, 1659 or 1675.

Publisher and Place: Printed in Padua by Mattio Cadorini (or for the Cadorino)

Copperplate engraving in black and white, excellent inking and intaglio printing on laid paper, minimal margins, margin opposite the binding shows wear, browning, oxidation and yellowing; all as in the photo. Good state of preservation, slight traces of foxing and browning. Editorial fold and visible signs of binding. Shipment insured via Bartolini/DPD courier. To benefit from the insurance coverage, any damage to the neck/box must be contested and reported to the courier at the time of delivery. Otherwise, the insurance reimbursement procedure cannot be activated.

The “Itinerario, overo nuova descrittione de' viaggi principali d'Italia” is a famous 17th-century travel guide, originally written in Latin by Francesco Scoto (Franz Schott) and subsequently translated into Italian, expanded and published in various editions between 1629 and 1670 (e.g., presso Francesco Bolzetta or Gio. Pietro Brigonci). The book provides a detailed description of journeys in Italy, enriched with city plans, bird's-eye views and maps, describing the most notable sights to see.

With the name Mattio Cadorin (also known as Matteo Cadorin or under the pseudonym Bolzetta) we mainly refer to an important Italian editor, printer and bookseller of the XVII century.

Franz Schott (1548-1622) anglicized (Francesco Scoto)

Franz Schott, in Latin Franciscus Schottus, anglicized Francesco Scoto (Antwerp, 1548 – 1622), was a jurist and Flemish traveler. Brother of Andreas Schott, he authored a guide for pilgrims bound for Italy for the Jubilee of 1600: the Itinerarium nobiliorum Italiae regionum, urbium, oppidorum, et locorum. The work was hugely successful and was translated into Italian, English, French and reprinted until the eighteenth century.

Little is known about the life of jurist Franz Schott, except that he came from Antwerp and studied law. As noted, in 1600 Schott published the first edition of the work in Latin with the title Itinerarii Italiae at Jeans Moretus in Antwerp, with the aim of providing readers, most of whom were pilgrims traveling to Italy and especially to Rome for the Holy Year, with a practical guide to move about easily.

In 1601, by the work of the two Venetian editors Francesco Bolzetta and Pietro Bertelli, the second Latin edition of Franz Schott’s Itinerario d’Italia was published in Vicenza; the work was enriched with maps of some Italian cities and the text, by the editors’ will, was expanded with the intervention of Geronimo Capugnano, a Dominican friar from Bologna. A subsequent Latin edition was published by Pietro Bertelli in 1610 in Vicenza. In 1620 the same author Franz Schott, driven by the immediate success of his Itinerario, attempted the publication of another Latin edition of the same, expanding it to Germany. In 1625, after Schott’s death, his brother Andreas oversaw a new Latin edition of the Itinerario for a new Jubilee year, which was followed by the edition published in Amsterdam in 1655 by the great geographic publisher Jodocus Jansson. This last edition, erroneously attributed to Andreas Schott, included eighteen city maps of Italian cities, largely derived from Joannes Jansson’s atlas, Illustrium Italiane urbium tabulae, published in 1657, whose plans had, however, already appeared in 1626 in the Nova et accurata Italiane descriptio.

Particularly for the Italian editions, the first Italian edition of Franz Schott’s Itinerario d’Italia was published in Venice in 1610 by the publisher Francesco Bolzetta. It was based on the 1601 Latin text but the title erroneously credited the work to Andreas Schott. From this first Italian edition descended all subsequent Italian editions. Through Francesco Bolzetta appeared the Vicenza editions of 1615, 1622 and 1638 and the Padua editions of 1629, 1642 and 1649. In all these Italian editions the error of attributing the work to Andreas Schott rather than to his brother Franz was maintained. In Rome, the Itinerario of Schott was first published in 1650 by the publisher Filippo De Rossi, based on the 1649 text. From this edition the attribution of the guide to its rightful author, Franz Schott, was restored. University of Genoa