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Books, Autographs & Prints

Friday 15 December 2023, 11:00 AM • Rome

154

Joan Blaeu

Theatrum Statuum Regiae Celsitudinis Sabaudiae Ducis, 1682

Estimate

€ 10.000 - 12.000

Sold

€ 12.690

The price includes buyer's premium

Information

Amsterdam, Blaeu, 1682. In 2nd, 580 x 360 mm. 2 vols. Engraved allegorical frontispieces, arms of Emanuele II, portraits of the Duchess of Savoy and Emanuele II, double-page table with the family tree of the House of Savoy, 131 plates mostly on double or triple sheets, depicting portraits, geographical maps, plans topographic and perspective views of Turin and cities and towns of Piedmont and Savoy, 2nd vol. the following plates are missing: portrait of Carlo Emanuele II portrait of Maria Giovanna Battista of Sabaudia Altaecumbia Abbatia p.36 Vercellae p. 120 Bugella Civitas p. 124, oxidized paper with widespread browning on almost all the plates, coeval binding in full parchment with fleurons and gold threading on the plates, friezes and title in gold on the spine, gilded cuts, ruined.

Specialist Notes

FIRST EDITION OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK ON SAVOIE. 
The two magnificent volumes, printed on large Hollande paper, are illustrated with splendid maps, city views in perspective, portraits , topographical plans, of exceptional quality and finesse. The first volume is essentially dedicated to Turin and the villages of Piedmont; the second offers knightly views of Chambéry, Montmélian, Moûtiers, Annecy, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, Thonon, Rumilly, Sallanches with a panorama of Mont Blanc in the background, Bonneville, Evian... These engravings, mostly on sheets double or triple, they are striking for their elegance and artistic charm, of particular historical and geographical interest. Most of them were created by Giovanni Tommaso Borgonio, a Piedmontese cartographer. The Theatrum Sabaudiae took almost 20 years to complete and had several objectives: to establish a precise inventory of the House of Savoy and above all to demonstrate its power compared to the other princely houses of Europe. The texts accompanying the views are written by the Baroque historiographer Emanuele Tesauro, Piedmontese (1592-1675). The designs for the branches were made by Boetto, Formento, Guazzo, Morello and Borgonio. Grandiose work commissioned and commissioned by the Savoy Kings in the 17th century.