Raffaele Aurino - Esemplari di caratteri francese, coule', ronde, inglese, gotico e semigotico - 1850-1852

Two precious manuals of calligraphy edited in Palermo in the mid-1800s.
1) "exemplars of French, copper, round, English, Gothic and semigothic characters written by Raffaele Aurino, oblong format in album size with 25 splendid plates in excellent condition, with clean ink, sharp contrasts, almost no flourishing; the calligraphic virtuosity (ornamental birds drawn with a single pen stroke) retains all its original precision on the copperplate prints on copper plates, signed by the author; moreover, the inner margins indeed show that the volume was carefully fanned through.
Raffaele Aurino was one of the writing masters of the Bourbon period in Sicily; his signature at the end of each print indicates a professional and accurate edition, not a cheap educational work.
The combination of the characters shown faithfully reflects the ministerial and commercial programs of the pre-unitary Italian technical schools and administrative offices, where the flexible-point “English” writing and the French “ronde” were the standard professional; furthermore, the virtuosity with the birds (the so-called pen-and- feat examples) and the choice of shaded typographic characters on the frontispiece are typical of the period’s manual production and echo contemporary works by masters such as Pasquale Martuscelli or Gabriele De Sanctis.
Finally, the clear and delicate copper engravings, together with the heavy paper type visible on the margins, are typical of the transition before the mass lithography of the late 1800s.
2) "calligraphy" by Giuseppe Favaloro "engraved by Pietro Allegra year 1852 Palermo", another magnificent work composed of 18 plates printed with the technique described above for the first volume, each enriched by the engravings of both the master calligrapher and the engraver.
Also oblong in shape, but larger: 37×17 cm.
In not excellent condition, with almost all the plates detached and the binding detached inside, but a complete work and perfectly usable.
Both precious volumes bear the stamp and ownership signature of a member of an important Palermo family.
An exceptional and hard-to-find pair for scholars and collectors.
The photos are an integral part of the description."