Palatius - Aquila Franca - 1679

IN FOLIO - LAVISH ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE FRANKISH IMPERATORS - GENEALOGY, COATS OF ARMS AND COINS
Magnificent historical-iconographic work of full Venetian Baroque, dedicated to the emperors of the Frankish or Salian dynasty and to the transition up to Lothar II.
The volume fuses imperial history, genealogy, heraldry, numismatics, law and political symbolism in a spectacular celebratory construction of imperial power. Palazzi does not merely recount the sovereigns’ fortunes, but reconstructs the continuity of imperial authority through portraits, coats of arms, coins, undertakings, symbols and documents, transforming the book into a true paper museum of the Holy Roman Empire. The richly furnished visual apparatus includes numerous copperplate engravings in the text dedicated to the emperors, the princes and the dynastic iconography, with the contribution of important engravers active in 17th-century Venice, among whom Arnold van Westerhout is notable. The red-and-black title page and the large format confer a strong visual impact to the work.

WHY TO BUY
GRAND IN FOLIO OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY! A spectacular illustrated history of the Holy Roman Empire in full Baroque.
EMPERORS, COATS OF ARMS AND COINS! A true paper museum of imperial sovereignty.
FRANKISH DYNASTY! Conrad II and the Salian emperors in one of the crucial periods of the clash between Empire and Papacy.
RICHLY ILLUSTRATED APPARATUS! Portraits, heraldry, numismatics and political symbolism in a great seventeenth-century volume.

MARKET VALUE
L’Aquila Franca holds good interest for collectors of imperial history, heraldry, genealogy, numismatics and seventeenth-century illustrated books. Value depends mainly on the completeness of the visual apparatus, the freshness of the paper and the quality of the binding. For a complete copy in good overall condition, a retail value realistically ranges around €1,000-1,400, with potential for higher offers for copies especially fresh, complete and preserved in high-quality antique bindings.

PHYSICAL / CONDITION
Pp. (2), 2 nn., 342, (2). Frontispiece printed in red and black. Numerous copperplate engravings in the text, with portraits, coats of arms, coins, devices and other motifs related to the history and symbolism of the Holy Roman Empire. Pages 263-264 are numerically repeated, a characteristic of the edition and not a defect of the copy. Recent cardboard binding. Paper with some browning, foxing and normal signs of age. An interesting copy of this grand historical-iconographic Baroque work. As with all old volumes, slight defects or restorations not expressly mentioned may be present.

FULL TITLES & AUTHORS
Giovanni Palazzi, latinized Johannes Palatius (1640-1703).
Aquila Franca.
Venetiis: ex Typographia Andreae Poleti, 1679.
Fourth volume of Monarchia Occidentalis.
Pp. (2), 2 nn., 342, (2).
With numerous copperplate engravings in the text.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Giovanni Palazzi (1640-1703), latinized Johannes Palatius, was an ecclesiastic, historian, jurist and scholar active in the Veneto milieu of the second half of the seventeenth century. Linked to Padua’s academic culture, he devoted himself to studies of canon law, ecclesiastical history and political history, with particular attention to the transmission of imperial authority and to the genealogy of the great European dynasties. Monarchia Occidentalis represents his most ambitious project: a vast visual history of the Western Empire in which the succession of sovereigns is reconstructed through biographies, genealogies, documents, symbols, coins and heraldic devices. Palazzi belongs fully to the Baroque erudite culture, which conceived history not merely as a chronological narration, but as a collection and interpretation of material and iconographic evidence. His works are therefore particularly interesting for their ability to integrate political history, law, numismatics and heraldry into a single grand celebratory project.

RARITY
L’Aquila Franca is not a very common title on the antiquarian market, especially when complete with its illustrative apparatus. Published in Venice in 1679 by Andrea Poleti, it constitutes the fourth volume of Giovanni Palazzi’s vast Monarchia Occidentalis, but possesses its own bibliographical and thematic autonomy. The serial structure of Monarchia Occidentalis has over time favored dispersion of individual volumes, but each Aquila has its own title page and a precise historical subject, a feature that allows full bibliographical and collectible autonomy. Exemplar copies complete with the numerous engravings are particularly desirable, since portraits, coats of arms and numismatic plates could be separated or mutilated. The combination of large format, rich visual apparatus and imperial subject matter makes the volume particularly interesting for collections devoted to the Holy Roman Empire, heraldry and the illustrated history of the seventeenth century.

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE
L’Aquila Franca is a particularly representative example of Baroque political- erudite culture. Palazzi uses image as a tool for interpreting history: portraits, genealogies, coats of arms, symbols, coins, privileges and documents participate in the construction of imperial memory and in the portrayal of the continuity of imperial power. The tome is devoted to the Salian or Frankish dynasty, begun with Conrad II, elected King of the Romans in 1024 and crowned emperor in 1027, and it traverses one of the most delicate phases of medieval European history, marked by the long conflict between Empire and Papacy. The volume is therefore a useful source not only for political history but also for understanding how, in the 17th century, imperial authority was interpreted and visually represented through symbols, dynastic genealogies and iconography. The visual apparatus constitutes an integral part of the intellectual project and transforms the book into a true catalog of the culture of sovereignty in Baroque Europe.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Giovanni Palazzi, Aquila Franca, Venice, Andrea Poleti, 1679.
Giovanni Palazzi, Monarchia Occidentalis, historical-genealogical series devoted to the western emperors.
Graesse, Trésor de livres rares et précieux, V, 104.
Piantanida, Autori italiani del ’600, nn. 483-485.
Bibliographic repertories devoted to the history of the Holy Roman Empire, heraldry and seventeenth-century numismatics.
Historical catalogs of major European libraries relating to Monarchia Occidentalis and Aquila Franca.