Descrizione

MORCELLI STEFANO ANTONIO – Indicazione antiquaria per la villa suburbana dell’eccellentissima casa Albani. Roma, Paolo Giunchi, 1785.

8vo (205×145 mm.), beautiful original floral paper, an uncut copy with leaves still to be opened, almost in mint condition. Engraved vignette on title (depicting Cupid), pp. 158, with many woodcuts of epigraphies in the text.

First edition, uncommon, of the catalogue and guide to the archaeological and epigraphic collections housed in the villa-museum outside Porta Salaria, built from 1743 to 1763 for Cardinal Alessandro Albani (1692-1779), a great collector of antiquities and friend of Winkelmann, under whose guidance formed in 1775 a precious collection of ancient sculptures then mostly seized by Napoleon during his campaign, and transported to Paris. The collection, then rebuilt with other works, passed to Chigi family in 1852 and in 1866 was purchased by Alessandro Torlonia together with the villa, which constitutes today the Albani Gallery. Borroni 8187/1; Rossetti 7191; Melzi II, 29; Cicognara 3756.