Orlandi - Abcedario Pittorico - 1719

THE ALPHABET OF OLD MASTERS: ORLANDI’S GREAT DICTIONARY OF ARTISTS
Monumental seventeenth-century repertoire of painters, sculptors, architects, and engravers, among the first great biographical dictionaries devoted to the history of art. This second edition of 1719, corrected and significantly expanded by the author, deeply enlarges the first Bologna edition of 1704. Over 500 pages collect thousands of European artists, with schools, masters, works, and references to the preceding artistic literature. The copy preserves the characteristic woodcut plates with monograms and marks of the engravers, as well as ancient study annotations. Of particular charm is the British provenance, documented by the heraldic ex libris of Sir William Strachan, Baronet, affixed to the front pastedown.

ABSTRACT
L’Abcedario Pittorico by Pellegrino Antonio Orlandi is one of the most significant repertorial ventures in Italian art historiography between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries: a large alphabetical dictionary in which concise notices are collected about painters, sculptors, architects, and engravers, both Italian and foreign. The first edition appeared in Bologna in 1704; the edition presented here, printed in 1719, is the second edition, revised directly by the author, “reprinted, corrected and enlarged with many professors and other pieces of information pertaining to painting.” Bibliographical sources confirm that this edition contains 519 pages and is in quarto format. Orlandi considerably expands the original repertory, integrating new information obtained through his own network of correspondences and updating biographies of artists. The first edition claimed to include about four thousand professors of painting, sculpture, and architecture; the 1719 edition constitutes a substantial revision of the work. Particularly interesting is the section devoted to engravers’ signs, monograms, and marks, illustrated by woodcut plates in the text: a component that makes the volume useful not only as a biographical dictionary but also as an ancient tool for identifying prints.

WHY TO BUY
This is a book of particular interest for collectors of art history, Old Master painting, engraving, bibliography, and eighteenth-century biographical dictionaries. This edition has a specific interest because it is the last great revision of the Abcedario published during Orlandi’s lifetime: after the 1704 princeps, the author extensively expanded and corrected the text in 1719; further posthumous editions and adaptations followed, including Florence 1731, Naples 1733, and Venice 1753. The copy also presents several collectible elements: an old full leather binding with a gold-decorated spine, plates with engravers’ monograms, ancient handwritten study notes, and above all the heraldic ex libris of Sir William Strachan, Baronet, on the front pastedown. The presence of handwritten notes relating to artists’ marks on the final leaves also suggests that the volume was actually used as a reference work, a feature coherent with the original function of the opus.

MARKET VALUE
The market for L’Abcedario Pittorico varies significantly depending on edition, binding, completeness, and provenance. For this copy, considering the decorated leather binding, apparent completeness, provenance with heraldic ex libris, and ancient annotations, a rough antiquarian valuation can be placed in the range of €600-850.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Contemporary full leather binding, spine with raised bands, small floral gold toolings, red morocco label with gilt title “L’ABCEDARIO PITTORI.” Heraldic ex libris of Sir William Strachan, Baronet, affixed to the front pastedown. Antiquated ownership inscription handwritten on the title page. Drop caps, ornaments, and woodcut tailpieces. Numerous handwritten and pencil annotations on the final leaves, some reproducing or identifying monograms and marks of artists and engravers. Binding shows signs of use; joints repaired, corners slightly worn, and normal superficial abrasions. Internally occasional browning, small stains, and foxing compatible with age. In old books with a centuries-long history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing contains AI Visuals. Please refer to the original photographs to verify the object’s actual condition. The images form an integral part of the description. Pp. (4); 520; (4).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
L’Abcedario Pittorico.
In Bologna, Per Costantino Pisarri all’insegna di S. Michele, 1719.
Pellegrino Antonio Orlandi.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
L’Abcedario Pittorico belongs to the fundamental phase in which the history of European art began to systematically organize the enormous patrimony of artistic biographies transmitted by Vasari, Baglione, Bellori, Malvasia, Ridolfi, Soprani, Sandrart, and numerous other regional sources. Orlandi’s great novelty lies in transforming this material into an alphabetical reference repertory, relatively quick and accessible: a portable encyclopedia of European art before the birth of modern artists’ dictionaries. Its pages feature both celebrated painters and lesser figures, masters, pupils, schools, places of activity, and bibliographic references. The work thus allows us to observe how, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the canon of the history of painting was constructed and transmitted. Particularly fascinating is the apparatus devoted to engravers’ marks, intended to help the reader recognize authors and printers through sigla and monograms. The 1719 edition is important because it constitutes an expanded and corrected version directly by the author, compared with the first edition of 1704.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Pellegrino Antonio Orlandi (1660-1727) was a Carmelite religious, scholar, art historian, and Bologna-based bibliographer. Entering the convent of San Martino in Bologna, he pursued study and teaching there and also served as prior. He was a member of the Accademia Clementina, one of Bologna’s principal artistic institutions in the early eighteenth century. His fame is mainly tied to L’Abcedario Pittorico, first published in 1704 and destined to become one of the most consulted art repertories of the eighteenth century. Orlandi also devoted himself to the history of books and typography, publishing Notizie degli scrittori bolognesi and later Origine e progressi della stampa, works that testify to the breadth of his bibliographic interests.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The first edition of L’Abcedario Pittorico was published in Bologna in 1704 by Costantino Pisarri and consisted of 426 pages. In 1719 Orlandi published the present version, deeply corrected and expanded, bringing the work to 519 pages. This second edition benefited from additional information gathered by the author and from his correspondence with artistic circles outside Bologna. The repertory was remarkably successful: after the author’s death, new expanded editions appeared, including Florence 1731, Naples 1733, and Venice 1753, the latter further enlarged by Pietro Guarienti. The opus’s longevity demonstrates how widely it was used by collectors, connoisseurs, print dealers, and scholars to identify artists and reconstruct their careers and works.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Pellegrino Antonio Orlandi, L’Abcedario Pittorico, Bologna, Costantino Pisarri, 1719, pp. 519, [1]. Digitized copies and bibliographic descriptions confirm title, publisher, date, and extent of the edition.
National Library of Milan (Braidense), historical catalog: entry for the Bologna 1719 edition, with physical description, printer impression, and mark on the title page.
Google Books, digitized copies of the second edition, 1719, 519 pages.
Finarte, sale March 9–10, 2023: copy of the first edition 1704, with extensive bibliographic note on the book’s fortune and on the later expanded edition of 1719.
Trafford Books, sale October 11, 2017: copy of the 1719 edition described as the second edition, 519,[1] pp., with five woodcut illustrations relating to artists’ monograms.
AIB – Associazione Italiana Biblioteche, studies on Orlandi and his bibliographic activity, referencing the author’s pioneering role in systematizing sources and book production.