Italy - Florence; 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 XVII and XVIII centuries.

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

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

Copper engraving in black and white, excellent inking and copper-engraved printing on laid paper, minimal margins, the margin opposite the binding worn, restoration along the central fold, browning, oxidation and yellowing; all as shown in the photo. Good state of conservation, slight traces of foxing and browning. Editorial crease and visible signs of binding. Insured shipment via Bartolini/DPD courier. To benefit from 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 initiate the insurance reimbursement procedure.

The “Itinerario, overo nuova descrittione de' viaggi principali d'Italia” is a famous travel guide of the XVIIth 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, aerial 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) is mainly referred to an important Italian editor, printer and bookseller of the XVIIth 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 the author of a guide for pilgrims bound for Italy for the Jubilee of 1600: the Itinerarium nobiliorum Italiae regionum, urbium, oppidorum, et locorum. The work achieved enormous success 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 mentioned, in 1600 Schott published the first edition of the work written in Latin 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 practical guide to move about easily.

In 1601, by the effort of the two Padovan editors Francesco Bolzetta and Pietro Bertelli, the second Latin edition of the 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 further Latin edition was published by Pietro Bertelli in 1610 in Vicenza. In 1620 the author Franz Schott, driven by the immediate success of his Itinerario, attempted another Latin edition of the same, extending it to Germany. In 1625, after the death of Franz Schott, on the occasion of a new jubilee year his brother Andreas supervised a new Latin edition of the Itinerario, followed by the edition published in Amsterdam in 1655 by the great geographical editor Jodocus Jansson. This last edition, which was erroneously attributed to Andreas Schott, included eighteen maps of Italian cities, largely derived from Joannes Jansson’s atlas, Illustrium Italiane urbium tabulae, published in 1657, whose plans had already appeared in 1626 in the 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 editor Francesco Bolzetta. It was based on the Latin text of 1601 but the title incorrectly credited the work to Andreas Schott. From this first Italian edition descended all subsequent Italian editions. By Francesco Bolzetta appeared the Vicentine editions of 1615, 1622 and 1638 and the Padovan 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 published for the first time in 1650 by the editor Filippo De Rossi, on the basis of the 1649 text. From this edition the attribution of the guide to its rightful author, Franz Schott, was restored. University of Genoa