SAINT-NON. Voyage pittoresque ou description des Royaumes de Naples et de Sicilie.

SAINT-NON, Abbé; de. Voyage pittoresque ou description des Royaumes de Naples et de Sicilie.

Paris, [Clousier], 1781-1786

5 Folio volumes. 538 x 340 mm. Contemporary quarter leather and marbled cardboard binding, with corners, titles, and volume number on red and green morocco labels on the ribbed spines with gilt ornaments.

Consist of:

Vol. 1: pp. 6, XIII, 3, 252; 51 engraved plates outside the text.

Vol. 2 (1.2): 4, XXVIII, 283, 9; 83 plates outside the text.

Vol. 3: 4, IV, XL, 184, 7-22, 185-201, 1 blank; 64 plates outside the text.

Vol. 4: 6, XVIII, 4, 266; 71 plates outside the text.

Vol. 5 (4.2): 4, IV, 3, 268-429, 1; 21 plates outside the text.

The second part of the first volume replaces the second. Large vignettes on the title pages, headpieces, endpapers and ornaments, all copper-engraved.

Many copper-engraved plates outside the text, including 10 geographical maps, 9 of which are double-page. The number of illustrations is much higher, as many plates feature two engravings. There are 25 large endpieces depicting mythological scenes, colored in two tones of red and black in the style of ancient Greek vases.

The binding shows signs of wear and small losses to the spine ends. Some internal pages have some spots and humidity stains. Copy with wide margins.

A rare first edition, a magnificently illustrated work. In this first issue, plates 84, 85, 86, 87, and 88 are mistakenly numbered 24, 11, 12, 24bis, and 15.

The illustrations are finely engraved in copper by Choffard, Duplessis-Bertaux, Saint-Aubin, Saint-Non himself, Fessard, Le Bas, and other artists, based on drawings by Cochin, Fragonard, Huber-Robert, Paris, and other 18th-century French masters.

The illustrations include: 5 large allegorical vignettes on the titles, a dedication to the Queen of France, 14 small headpieces, 96 large tail-pieces, 10 geographical maps, 1 topographical map of Naples, in addition to the plates with views, monuments, archaeological finds, and works of art. Of particular note is Volume 2, which contains the 25 small endpieces colored in red and black.

This extremely important work provides valuable iconographic evidence, with drawings of the archaeological excavations of Herculaneum and the city of Messina before the 1783 earthquake. It is one of the most spectacular works dedicated to Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples, and is particularly important for illustrating the ancient sites and their discoveries. Paris was one of the first artists allowed to draw directly at Herculaneum, where drawing and taking notes were prohibited during the early excavations. Furthermore, Denon's plates are unparalleled sources of reference for the appearance of Messina before the 1783 earthquake, as

The descriptive text is now attributed to the painter, sculptor, and scholar D. Vivant-Denon. The Abbé de Saint-Non, the creator and coordinator of the undertaking, ruined himself completing it.

Cicognara 2708; Blackmer 1473, 62-63.