Lot 14: RUGGIERI, Ferdinando (1691-1741). Scelta di architetture antiche e moderne della citta di Firenze . Florence: 1755. 4 volumes in two, 2° (470 x 350mm). Vols I-III and vol. IV pt 1 with engraved additional titles 'Studio d'architettura civile'

RUGGIERI, Ferdinando (1691-1741). Scelta di architetture antiche e moderne della citta di Firenze. Florence: 1755. 4 volumes in two, 2° (470 x 350mm). Vols I-III and vol. IV pt 1 with engraved additional titles 'Studio d'architettura civile' and titles printed in red and black with etched and engraved vignette views of Florence, repeated as headpiece to preface of vol. IV pt 2, title to vol IV pt 2 with etched and engraved vignette of the Laurentine Library within a grotesque frame, this repeated as headpiece to description of the plates, etched and engraved headpiece and initial to dedication in vol. I, small cancel slip pasted to the foot of the dedication correcting the French publisher's name to Bouchard, woodcut initials, large folding engraved map of Florence, 282 engraved and etched plates, of which 24 double-page. (Occasional faint marginal finger-soiling.) Contemporary tree calf, gilt spines (extremities rubbed, head- and tailcaps worn). Provenance: Joseph Augustin Brentano (engraved bookplate; perhaps sold at his sale 3 April 1822, Amsterdam) -- Leo S. Olschki (bookplate, founder of the Italian publishing house).

A FINE, CRISP COPY OF RUGGIERI'S MAGISTERIAL WORK ON FLORENTINE ARCHITECTURE. Inspired by Domenico de' Rossi's grand three-volume survey of Rome's architecture, Studio d'architettura civile (1702-1722), Ruggieri first published his magnum opus between 1722 and 1728. He embraced de' Rossi's scheme of following an elevation of a building with a series of details and plans. The French publisher Joseph Bouchard, who lived in Florence in the 1750s, obtained Ruggieri's copperplates and succeeded in selling the resulting second edition (the present lot) to travellers on the Grand Tour. RIBA 2878. (2)