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1 small volume in-4. 4f, 286 f., 38f., 33f. (table). Complete collated. Contemporary binding in full overlapping vellum, title Venetia in ink on the spine (small vellum patch on the outer edge at the top of the front cover).
First edition of this important work on Venice. This is the first tourist guide truly designed for travelers wishing to visit the Serenissima. It is also the most important historical source on Venice in the 16th century.
Sansovino gives a meticulous description of his city. Religious and civil monuments, palaces, works of art, gastronomy, customs, fashion, trade... And also the cultural life of the city of the Doges, there is a multitude of information on painters, writers, publishers.
For the humanist chroniclers of the 16th century, the physical and political harmony of the ducal city could only be of divine essence. It is to this indisputable feeling of perfection that Francesco Sansovino alludes in his treatise Venetia Citta Nobilissima et Singolare where he assimilates the complex articulation of the sestieri and the parishes of Venice, squared by a tight network of canals, alleys and quays, to the wholly divine, and therefore perfect, organization of the human body.
To see the magnificent copy of Jacques-Auguste de Thou sold at Christie's in 2015:
https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5909362
Beautiful copy, with very fresh paper, of this capital work on Venice. 67488195
