PIETRO METASTASIO - Opere del Signor Ab. Pietro Metastasio Poeta Cesareo - 8 TOMI con 130 INCISIONI - 1781-1782

Pietro Metastasio – Works - 8 volumes – Venice, Antonio Zatta, 1781

130 ENGRAVINGS approx

Prestigious series of 8 volumes of the works of the famous Abate Pietro Metastasio, printed in Venice by the publisher Antonio Zatta in 1781.

Great iconographic apparatus of about 130 engravings across the 8 volumes presented here - The edition faithfully follows the corrections and additions approved by the author in the Paris edition of 1780.

**Author: Abate Pietro Metastasio (Imperial Poet).

* **Publisher: Antonio Zatta, Venice.

* **Year of publication: 1781.

* **Contents of the lot: 8 volumes

Volumes in the lot
1 - 2 - 3 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8- 13

Binding: Contemporary in rustic boards decorated with the characteristic Venetian paper, parchment corners, original manuscript title labels on the spines. Each volume 17x9 cm, with about 330 pages. Portrait of the author at the opening of volume 1 by Marco Pitteri.

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Extraordinary Illustrative Apparatus of about 130 illustrations across the 8 volumes, including

Full-page etched plates that depict the salient moments, scenes and characters of Metastasian dramas, created with drawing and engraving by great masters of the period, including: Novelli, Baratti S., G. Gobis, Dall'Acqua, Daniotto, G.A. Zuliani, Pel de Colle, Baratti ...

and Architectural Vignettes (Testatine incised):

Placed at the opening of each act, these micro-engravings are not mere decorative friezes, but real theatre-scene sketches and architectural vistas. They visually depict the scenic setting in which the dramatic action opens (such as interiors of royal palaces, atria with columns, prisons or gardens), offering a high artistic, historical-theatrical, and bibliographical value.

EDITORIAL CURIOSITIES (see the last photo of the lot for details)

Each volume bears an ancient ownership inscription contemporaneous to the era: "Fratelli Dall'Acqua". This surname directly links to the engraver of the title pages of the volumes; it is thus possible that these copies could have belonged to the artist's workshop or family.

CONDITIONS
Complete volumes, solid and fully usable in their entirety. Abrasions to the spines; one volume lacks the label on the back. Internal pages good, with sporadic foxing present almost exclusively at the edges. Paper crackling but good, only slightly browned. Exteriors darkened by time with some signs of use.