Beschreibung:

GUALTIERI, Niccolo (1688-1747). Index testarum conchyliorum quae adservantur in museo Nic. Gualtieri ... et methodice distributae exhibentur tabulis CX. Florence: Caetano Albizzini, 1742. 5 parts in one volume, 2° (447 x 295mm). Half-title. Engraved hand-coloured frontispiece by P.A. Pazzi after J. Campiglia, engraved hand-coloured portrait of Gualtieri by Pazzi after Maria Gozzi, title in red and black with engraved hand-coloured vignette, 5 section titles and 8 leaves of generic tables all printed in red and black with engraved hand-coloured vignettes, 110 numbered hand-coloured full-page engravings with either text or unnumbered illustration on verso, most by J. Menabuoni after Pazzi. 17 unnumbered hand-coloured engraved illustrations and 2 hand-coloured historiated initials. (Small abrasion mark to frontispiece.) Contemporary English crimson morocco gilt, triple fillets, gilt spine compartments with repeated carnation tool, marbled endpapers, gilt floral turn-ins, gilt edges (light scuff marks to covers). A FINE, HAND-COLOURED COPY IN CONTEMPORARY MOROCCO. The Index Testarum Conchyliorum of Niccolo Gualtieri, physician to Cosmimo III de' Medici, faithfully illustrates hundreds of shells from his own collection. While cabinets of shells were fashionable in court circles, Gualtieri's collection was particularly impressive and he produced a volume of corresponding magnificence, showing a genuine scientific interest. Hand-coloured copies are rare and this is a particularly bright, fresh copy with contemporary colouring. Nissen ZBI 1736; Dance Shell Collecting , p.57.