Conte V. di K. - L'Ussaro Italiano cioè Le Avventure Amorose e Militari - 1762

Bibliographic Description and Condition Report:

CHIARI, Pietro. L'Ussaro Italiano, cioè le avventure amorose e militari del Conte V... di K... Accadute nel presente Secolo, e scritte da lui medesimo in lingua Italiana.
In Venezia, Appresso Angiolo Pasinelli, 1762 (MDCCLXII).

Physical Description:

• Format: 8° (Octavo), ca. 18 x 12 cm.
• Volumes: Complete two-volume work (First Tome & Second Tome) bound in one volume.

• Collation / Page extent:

• Tome I: Engraved frontispiece + title page with engraved title vignette + 150 pages + 1 leaf publisher's ads.

• Tome II: Title page with repeated engraved title vignette + 162 pages + 3 leaves.

• Binding: Plain contemporary binding with marbled over-paper. Manuscript spine label from an old hand (L’Ussaro Ital. T. I II).

Condition Report:
• Binding:
• With age-appropriate wear. Outer edges, corners, and capitals scratched and bumped. The handwritten spine label is slightly rubbed and shows minor missing portions, but remains legible. The binding is stable and holds the book block firmly together.

• Interior:

Textually and graphically complete. Both title pages bear a small historical stamp (ownership stamp). The paper is overall somewhat foxed and lightly browned to age, but remains firm and flexible. The printing and the copper engravings are clean, high-contrast, and perfectly legible. With natural uncut edges (rag edges).

Literary-Historical Note:

Very early (or original) edition of the well-known adventure and epistolary novel from the military milieu, written by the prolific Abbot Pietro Chiari (1712–1785). Chiari was one of the most important representatives of the Italian novel in the 18th century and a famous literary rival of Carlo Goldoni. Particularly attractive is the preserved decorative frontispiece in the first volume, which shows the protagonists on horseback.