Atlas Of Picturesque Or Description Of The Kingdoms Of Naples And Sicily.

Saint Non Jean Baptiste Claude Richard - Atlas of picturesque travel or description of the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily. Paris, Houdaille, in folio, 558 plates, early 19th century bindings in bottle green half calfskin, smooth spine, threads between the leather and the green binding paper. Suite of 558 plates from the trip to Italy made by JC de Saint Non around 1760 where he became friends with Fragonard and Hubert Robertet where he went with them to Sicily in Naples. In 1871, he undertook the publication of this work illustrated by the best artists of the time: Cochin, Choffard, Fragonard, Guttenberg, Longueil, Marillier, Robert and Châtelet among others. This publication gives a large part to the antiquities of Pompeii and Herculaneum as well as the Greek ruins of Sicily, but it also describes a little of Puglia. Our copy contains plate 135 entitled "phallus or phallum" which represents the objects found in Herculaneum and kept in the Porticiet museum and which, due to censorship, is missing from many copies. It is said that the author spent lavishly to produce such a work. Exceptional set of plates, without the text. Very nice copy 55 cm x 36.5 cm