Italy - Trento; 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 during the entire 17th and 18th centuries.

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

Publisher and place: Printed in Padua at Mattio Cadorini (or by the Cadorino)

Copper-engraving in black and white, excellent inking and intaglio printing on mould-made paper with watermark, minimal margins, margin opposite the binding showing 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. Insured shipping via Bartolini/DPD courier. To make use of the insurance coverage, any damage to the neck must be contested and reported to the courier at the time of delivery. Otherwise, it will not be possible to activate the insurance reimbursement procedure.

The “Itinerario, overo nuova descrittione de' viaggi principali d'Italia” is a famous travel guide of the 17th century, 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. at Francesco Bolzetta or Gio. Pietro Brigonci). The book provides a detailed description of travels 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) there is mainly reference to an important Italian publisher, printer and bookseller of the 17th century.

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

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

Little is known about the life of the jurist Franz Schott, except that he originated from Antwerp and studied law. As noted, in 1600 Schott published the first edition of the Latin work under the title Itinerarii Italiae at Jeans Moretus of 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 guide containing practical information for moving around easily.

In 1601, by the work of the two Padua-based editors Francesco Bolzetta and Pietro Bertelli, the second Latin edition of Itinerario d’Italia by Franz Schott was published in Italy, 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 his Itinerario had obtained, attempted publication of another Latin edition of the same, extending it to Germany. In 1625, after Franz 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 geographical publisher Jodocus Jansson. This latter edition, which was erroneously attributed to Andreas Schott, included eighteen city maps of Italy, largely derived from Joannes Jansson’s atlas, titled Illustrium Italiane urbium tabulae and issued in 1657, whose plans had, however, already appeared in 1626 in Nova et accurata Italiane descriptio.

Particularly for the Italian editions, the first Italian edition of Schott’s Itinerario d’Italia was published in Venice in 1610 by the publisher Francesco Bolzetta. It was based on the Latin text of 1601 but the title erroneously credited the work to Andreas Schott. From this first Italian edition all subsequent Italian editions descended. Through Francesco Bolzetta the Vicentine editions appeared in 1615, 1622 and 1638 and the Padovan editions of 1629, 1642 and 1649. In all these Italian editions the error of attribution of the origin of the work to Andreas Schott, rather than to his brother Franz, was maintained. In Rome Itinerario di Schott was published for the first time in 1650 by the editor 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