Pietro Corelli/Antonio Masutti - La Stella d'Italia o Nove secoli di Casa Savoia - 1860-1863

RARE volute work written by Pietro Corelli..."La Stella d'Italia or nine centuries of the House of Savoy" First edition of this work on the Savoy epic in the style of a historical novel, praised for its richly illustrated apparatus drawn by Masutti and published on the eve of national unification. A 5-volume work. Volume I, 1860, from Berengario II (930 - 964) to Carlo III (1486 - 1553), pp. 730, XXV plates. Volume II, 1861, from Emanuele Filiberto (1553 - 1580) to Carlo Emanuele I (1580 - 1630), pp. 837, XXV plates. Volume III, 1862, from Vittorio Amedeo I and Cristina of France (1630 - 1663) to Giacinta di Lorena, consort of King Carlo Alberto (1753 - 1820), pp. 765, XXIV plates. Volume IV, 1862, Carlo Alberto (1820 - 1849), pp. 865, XXVII plates. Volume V, 1863, Vittorio Emanuele II (1849 - 1861), pp. 726, XXIII plates. Place of publication MilanPublisher Alessandro RipamontePublisherYear of publication 1860 - 1863. With a very large number of full-page plates drawn by Masutti and engraved in steel by Carelli, Clerici, Buccinelli, etc..
Externally half-leather binding with signs of wear at the corners and edges with some losses to the boards and edges—see photos. Inside, illustrations mostly protected by tissue paper, images in good condition, foxing mainly along the margins—see photos. Text pages with slight foxing but mostly clean and widely usable. First pages of volume 1 reattached, in volume 5 a stain across two pages partially affecting the text. Plates complete except for one plate missing in volume 1 and two plates in volume 5. In volume 5, some final plates with old humidity marks at the margins.
Rarity.
Very heavy volumes, about 15 kg!!