Chef d'orchestre

1690 · 11041 — Rome: Giovanni Giacomo Komarek. Good with no dust jacket. 16931690. First Edition. Leather. Xviii 217 iii AND xxiv 276 xxii plus blanks at beginning and end. With arms in gilt on the covers and interior bookplate of noted bibliophile and collector Nicolas-Joseph Foucault 1643-1721 whose library the book is from. Folio. First volume has engraved frontis 35 engraved plates 20 folding 4 double page the Vetera has 76 engraved plates some folding. In very nice condition. Contemporary full calf binding with the gilt coats of arms 6 raised bands with gilt in the compartments leather spine label a bit rumpled but still intact. Boards have some minor rubbing and scuffing a lovely patina red edges. Interior has Foucault's bookplate on the inside front cover then another facing 19th century armorial bookplate of the Earls of Macclesfield's "North Library" at Shirburn Castle with the motto: "Sapere aude" meaning “Dare to know. ” It includes a shelfmark and the year 1860. The first plate and first title page have small embossed coat of arms of the Earl of Macclesfield. Otherwise the paper is clean and unmarked very little to no foxing the plates are spectacular one plate has a short separation at one of the folds. Ciampini was an ecclesiastical archeologist particularly interested in archtiecture. The De Sacris is a history of the ancient churches in the East and West built by Emperor Constantine the Great while the Vetera is a history of the art of mosaics. Both works contain good illustrations of many ancient Christian edifices and mosaics that have since perished or suffered change and deterioration including old St. Peter's and St. John Lateran. A lovely book with spectacular engraved plates with quite wonderful provenance. ; Folio 13" - 23" tall . Giovanni Giacomo Komarek hardcover