Cicognara - Storia della Calcografia - 1831

DALLE PRIME INCISIONS IN TAROTS: THE ORIGINS OF CALCOGRAPHY AND PLAYING CARDS
First edition of an important treatise on the history of engraving, published in Prato in 1831 by the renowned art historian Leopoldo Cicognara. A fascinating investigation into the origins of calcography, the mysterious Renaissance niello inlays, and the birth of playing cards. A fundamental work for understanding the evolution of printing techniques, from medieval goldsmithing to nineteenth-century lithography. Of particular interest is the section devoted to playing cards, their symbols, and their role in the history of engraving. Elegant full blue leather specimen from the twentieth century, with the original valuable editorial binding preserved inside.

ABSTRACT
The Memoirs pertaining to the history of Calcography by Count Leopoldo Cicognara constitute an important work of art history dedicated to the origins and development of metal engraving. Published in Prato in 1831, the treatise addresses some of the most fascinating problems of nineteenth-century art-historical historiography, with particular attention to nielli, early calcographic techniques, and the relationship between goldsmithing and printing. Cicognara examines the material and documentary evidence related to the birth of engraving, discussing the contribution of Italian artists and the traditions that attributed a fundamental role in the development of printing from metal matrices to Maso Finiguerra. A section of particular interest is devoted to playing cards, studied as iconographic and technical testimonies of woodcut and calcographic production. The work also addresses lithography, siderography, and other innovations that had transformed graphic arts between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. A scholarly treatise that brings together art history, collecting, bibliography, and investigation into the techniques of reproducing images.

WHY TO BUY
An especially interesting work for collectors of rare books on art history, engraving, playing cards, and printing techniques. The first edition of 1831 attests to Leopoldo Cicognara’s scientific activity, one of the leading Italian authorities in nineteenth-century art historiography. The volume stands out for the breadth of topics treated, ranging from Renaissance nielli to the origins of playing cards, up to lithography and siderography. The section devoted to playing cards has particular documentary value, linking the history of gaming to the birth and development of graphic reproduction techniques. The full blue leather binding gives the copy an elegant appearance, while the preservation of the original editorial wrappers constitutes an appreciable bibliographic element, allowing for a preserved witness of the nineteenth-century editorial format. A work intended for libraries specializing in the history of engraving, old graphics, Renaissance art, and European material culture.

MARKET VALUE
The first edition of Memoirs pertaining to the history of calcography shows differentiated market value depending on completeness. The work was published with a text volume of 262 pages and a separate large-format atlas comprising 18 copper-engraved plates, a component that significantly contributes to the value of complete copies. Considering the modern full blue leather binding, the presence of the original editorial wrappers, and the sale as an unbound text, an approximate commercial valuation for the text alone can be placed between 200 and 250 euros.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Twentieth-century binding, with preservation inside the original editorial wrappers, a significant element for documenting the book’s typographic appearance. Pages with browning and physiological foxing. In old books with a multise- century history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing contains AI Visuals. Refer to the original photographs to verify the object’s actual condition. The images are an integral part of the description. Pp. (2); 2nn; 262; (4).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Leopoldo Cicognara.
Memorie spettanti alla storia della calcografia del commendatore conte Leopoldo Cicognara.
Prato, for the Frat. Giachetti, 1831.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The publication of Memoirs pertaining to the history of calcography takes place at a pivotal moment for the development of European art historiography. In the early decades of the nineteenth century, interest in the origins of engraving techniques was fed by the growth of public and private print collections, the rediscovery of Renaissance art, and the desire to reconstruct scientifically the history of the graphic arts. One of the most debated issues concerned the invention of calcography and the role of nielli, small engravings made on precious metal objects, whose cavities were filled with a dark substance to make the design visible. According to a historiographic tradition dating to Giorgio Vasari, the Florentine goldsmith Maso Finiguerra would have contributed decisively to the discovery of the possibility of obtaining impressions on paper from incised metal matrices. Cicognara addresses this question through the examination of works, testimonies, and known collections, placing himself in the international debate on the origins of copperplate printing. The second part of the treatise, devoted to playing cards, is particularly important, considering them not only as objects of entertainment but also as evidence of the diffusion of mechanically reproduced images. The first cards, often produced by woodcut matrices and later with different printing techniques, represent an essential chapter in the history of serial image production. Cicognara analyzes the origins and European diffusion of playing cards, contributing to linking the history of games with the history of graphic arts. The third part examines lithography and siderography, relatively modern techniques that were transforming the possibilities for reproducing images and texts. The work thus constitutes a significant synthesis of the knowledge available in the early nineteenth century, showing how the progress of graphic arts was closely linked to goldsmithing, collecting, publishing, and the circulation of images.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Leopoldo Cicognara (Ferrara, 1767 – Venice, 1834) was one of the most important Italian art historians, archaeologists, collectors, and intellectuals between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Born into an aristocratic Ferrara family, he received a humanistic education and developed early a deep interest in the fine arts, classical antiquity, and Renaissance culture. He participated in the political and cultural life of Napoleonic Italy, holding public offices and subsequently promoting artistic institutions. In 1808 he became president of the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice, a role he held for many years, contributing to the development of artistic education and the valorization of Italian cultural heritage. His most famous work, the monumental Storia della scultura dal suo risorgimento in Italia fino al secolo di Napoleone, published between 1813 and 1818, represented one of the first large-scale attempts to systematically reconstruct the history of Italian sculpture. He was also the author of the Catalogo ragionato dei libri d'arte e d'antichità possessed by Count Cicognara, published in 1821, a bibliographic repertoire that became a fundamental reference for the history of artistic literature. A great collector of books, engravings, and works of art, Cicognara dedicated the last years of his life to studying engraving techniques and nielli, collecting materials and testimonies that flowed into the Memoirs pertaining to the history of calcography. His activity contributed decisively to the formation of modern Italian art history, through a method based on direct examination of works, comparison of testimonies, and attention to bibliographic documentation.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Memoirs pertaining to the history of calcography was published in a single, first edition in Prato in 1831, at the Fratelli Giachetti press, one of the Tuscan publishing houses active in producing scholarly and literary works during the first half of the nineteenth century. The publication was conceived in two materially distinct parts: a text volume in octavo of 262 pages and a separate large-format atlas containing 18 copper-engraved plates, intended to illustrate the artistic materials and historical testimonies discussed by the author. The iconographic apparatus played an essential role in the original conception of the work, allowing readers to compare the descriptions with the reproductions of nielli and engravings. The work was published in the final years of Cicognara’s life, when his interest was particularly focused on documenting the origins of the graphic arts. The presence of copies preserved with only the text, lacking the atlas, attests to the possibility that the two components had different conservation histories. The original print run is not documented. The volume’s distribution among libraries, collectors, and art scholars confirms its importance as a contribution to nineteenth-century engraving historiography and to the historical reconstruction of image reproduction techniques.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Leopoldo Cicognara, Memorie spettanti alla storia della calcografia, Prato, Fratelli Giachetti, 1831, first edition, text volume of 262 pages originally accompanied by 18 copper-engraved plates gathered in a separate atlas. The work is structured in three main sections dedicated respectively to the origin, composition and decomposition of nielli, to the history of playing cards, and to lithography and siderography. It also includes appendices and notes on artistic materials preserved in the author’s collections and in important Italian collections. The treatise belongs to Cicognara’s mature scholarly production and constitutes a specialist complement to his earlier works on art history and bibliography. Of particular significance is the section devoted to playing cards, in which the author addresses the relationship between the earliest forms of serial image production, the woodcut techniques, and the subsequent evolution of copperplate printing. The publication bears documentary interest for the study of Renaissance nielli, the history of goldsmithing, ancient graphic arts, and the nineteenth-century technological innovations. It also stands as a testimony to the activity of the great Italian collectors and scholars who contributed to the birth of modern art techniques history.