PIZZALA, Andrea. Voyage Pittoresque, Historique, et Geographique de Rome a' Naples et ses environs.
Naples, 1823 - 1824
An extremely rare collection of 62 aquatint plates. The view plates, all marked "dessine d’apres nature" [drawn from life], and some dated 1821-1824, depict squares, monuments, and views, each with its own vellum and caption. These include the ruins of the ancient Capua Gate, a view of the Tomb of the Horatii and Curiatii, a view of the Pozula Cave, the Tivoli Waterfall, the Naples Cathedral, a view of Naples taken from Capodimonte, the Gravina Palace, the Royal Garden of Naples, the Royal Palace of Caserta, the Temple of Bacchus in Pompeii, the Road to the Tombs in Herculaneum, and other sites or ruins.
L. Fino, Il mito di Napoli, Naples, Grimaldi & C., 2008, p. 100, who attributes the work to Andrea Pizzala; British Library, 1296.i.3; Castiglione Minischetti, Bibliographie du voyage français en Italie du Moyen Age à 1914, p. 158.
The work is cited in very few bibliographies. The cited copies contain fewer engravings: the British Library owns one with 32 plates before the printing press ("without printing," shelfmark: 1296.i.3), Castiglione Minischetti lists 38, and the Feltrinelli copy had 41.
In oblong 4to. 370x292 mm. Contemporary binding in long-grain green and red half Morocco, on the front cover the coat of arms of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, within a green label. Architectural title-page with title framed by neoclassical chiaroscuro friezes, Vesuvius erupting in the centre, 2 geographical maps outside the text and 60 aquatint engravings. Text pages: 18, [2], 3-12, [2]. The plates correspond to the index at the end of the two parts. The two geographical maps are not mentioned in the index.