PIRANESI, Giovanni Battista ( 1720--1778)
Le antichità romane opera di Giambatista Piranesi architetto veneziano divisa in quattro tomi nel primo de' quali si contengono gli avanzi degli edifizj di Roma disposti in tavola topografica secondo l'odierna loro esistenza ed illustrati co' frammenti dell'antica icnografia marmorea, e con un indici critico della loro denominazione arrichito di tavole suppletorie fralle quali si dimostrano l'elevazione degli stessi avanzi: l'andamento degli antichi aquedotti nelle vicinanze e nel dentro di Roma, correlativo al commentario frontiniano ivi esposto in compendio: la pianta delle terme le più cospicue: del Foro Romano colle contrade circonvicine: del Monte Capitolino: ed altre le più riguardevoli. Nel secondo, e nel terzo gli avanzi de' monumenti sepolcrali esistenti in Roma, e nell'agro romano colle loro rispettive piante, elevazioni, sezioni, vedute esterne ed interne: colla dimostrazione de' sarcofagi, ceppi, vasi cenerarj e unguentarj, bassirilievi, stucchi, musaici, iscrizioni, e tutt'altro ch'è stato in essi ritrovato: e colle loro indicazioni e spiegazione. Nel quarto i ponti antichi di Roma che inoggi sono in essere, colle vestigia dell' antica Isola Tiberina, gli avanzi de' teatri, de' portici, e di altri monumenti, eziandio colle loro indicazioni e spiegazioni. Tomo primo.
Roma:, nella stamperia di Angelo Rotilj. Si vendono in Roma dai Signori Bouchard, e Gravier mercanti libraj 1756.
4 vols ; 51.5 cm. (2°)
I: [6], 40, XI, [1], iii, [1], iv, iii, [3] p., engr. frontis. port., XLIIII etch. pl. (3 fold.) : etch. initials
II: LXIII etch. pl. (1 fold.)
III: LIV etch. pl. (1 fold.)
IV: LVI etch. pl. (5 fold.)

This great survey of the architectural, sepulchral and civil engineering monuments of ancient Rome is Piranesi's magnum opus. Here he was able to harness his exceptional powers as a graphic artist to his considerable learning as an archaeologist to create an indelible vision of the sublime grandeur of Rome's highly advanced and still visible civilisation. Like many of Piranesi's works the Antichità romane continued to be modified by its author after its initial appearance between May and August 1756. The most dramatic of these modifications was Piranesi's angry 'defacement' and subsequent alteration of the wording of the dedicatory frontispieces in each volume as a result of Lord Charlemont's failure to honour what the artist had taken to be a firm promise of financial support. Further variant states arise from: (a) the presence of an etched volume number on the plates of vol. I and of volume and plate numbers throughout vols. II--IV (this in most cases constitutes a second state of the plate concerned); (b) the inclusion of pl. LVII in vol. IV which was first added from about February 1757 onwards; (c) the addition sometime after 1761 of two more plates in vol. IV (one of these is numbered XLIV [bis], the other is un-numbered - they are usually found printed on the same double-page leaf as pl. XLIV and XLV respectively); (d) the interpolation in some copies of either the first or second edition of Piranesi's Lettere di giustificazione to Charlemont (datable to February 1757 and February 1758 respectively); (e) the insertion of F. Polanzani's portrait of Piranesi in some (or possibly most) copies issued before 1761 (it was originally issued in the Opere varie in 1750 (q.v.); (f) the inclusion of the portrait of Pope Clement XIII first published in Piranesi's Della magnificenza ed architettura de Romani, 1761 (q.v.) (this replaces Piranesi's portrait in some copies); and (g) the re-working of the engraved list of contents of vols. II & III (vol. II, pl. III) to reflect Piranesi's move to new premises in the Strade Felice in 1761 and the fact that his publications were no longer handled by Bouchard & Gravier, with whom he appears to have quarrelled shortly before this date.

The Soane copy has the dedicatory frontispieces in their earliest states before the erasure of the dedication to Charlemont; it also has early states of the plates throughout before the introduction of consistent plate and volume numbering (see Copy notes below for details); it does not include the later pl. LVII and XLIV-[XLV bis] in vol. IV, nor the Lettere di giustificazione in vol. I; and it has Polanzani's 1750 portrait of Piranesi rather than the post 1761 portrait of the Pope. Taking these 'points' together there can be little doubt that it represents one of the seventy or eighty copies of the first printing that were offered for sale between about May and August 1756. For a detailed physical description and full account of genesis and publishing history of this book see BAL Early printed books, no. 2550

Copy Notes With early states of the plates without volume numbers except for pl. II in vols. II and IV and pl. XXI and XXXVIII in vol. III; and without plate numbers throughout vols II--IV except for pl. I--III, VII-VIII, X--XX and XL--LVIIII in vol. II and pl. XVIII, XXI--XXXIX in vol. III. In all cases the missing numbers are supplied in manuscript. The leaves of all four volumes are also numbered by hand sequentially in ink 1--173 and 1--219 in the upper right-hand corner. Pages I--IV of the 'Spiegazione Della Preposta Tavola Degli Aquedotti' in vol. I are misbound after p. [XII].

Binding C18th calf, gilt roll-tooled borders, gilt-tooled spine, black morocco spine labels gilt-lettered 'Opera De Piranesi Vol I (II, III, IV)', gilt roll-tooled edges.

Reference Number 5936