Beschreibung:

PIRANESI, Giovanni Battista (1720-1778). [ Works , a composite set]. Rome: G.B. Piranesi and others, 1756-c.1767, comprising: Volumes 1-4: Le Antichità romane . Rome: Bouchard and Gravier, 1756. I: Engraved frontispiece portrait of Piranesi by and after Felice Polanzani [cf. W.-E. p.81], etched double-page dedication [W.-E. 279, second state], headpiece [W.-E. 286], 6 initials [W.-E. 280-5], one illustration [W.-E. 287], 73 plates [bound: W.-E. 288-291, 2 plates of indices of fragments, 292-358]; II: title [W.-E. 359], double-page frontispiece [W.-E. 360], index, 58 plates [bound: W.-E. 361, 364-420]; III: title [W.-E. 421], double-page frontispiece [W.-E. 422], 52 plates [bound: W.-E. 423-40, plate XXI, 441, plates XXIV, XXIII, XXV-XXVI by G. Rossi, 442-469]; IV: title [W.-E. 470], double-page frontispiece [W.-E. 471], index, 54 plates [bound: W.-E. 472-3, 477-8, 475, 474, 476, 479-502, 504-513, 516-528]. Together 237 plates on 207 sheets, 7 folding double-page, 123 double-page, 2 folding. (5 plates creased, one plate with a neat early repair on the verso, lacking plates W.-E. 362-3 and 503.) Second edition, with the dedication to Lord Charlemont removed. Hind p. 83; Wilton-Ely D.II. Volume 5: Diverse maniere d'adornare i cammini ed ogni altra parte degli edifizia desunte dall'architettura egizia, etrusca, greca . [Rome: c.1767]. Etched double-page title [W.-E. 815] and 50 plates [bound: W.-E. 823-5, 863, 859, 884 864, 885, 832-6, 868, 829, 856, 837-8, 877, 869, 839, 862, 830, 840, 871, 841-3, 872, 886, 884, 887, 845, 831, 846, 870, 827-8, 848, 873, 847, 849-55, 881, 879]. (A few plates lightly marked.) EARLY ISSUE. The plates for this work appear to have been etched and issued over a period of some years before the publication of the complete volume in 1769 (cf. Wilton-Ely Piranesi (1978), 243, a letter from Sir William Hamilton to Piranesi of 3 October 1767 indicating that individual plates were in circulation and 244, a letter from Piranesi to Thomas Hollis of 18 November 1768 accompanying 57 proof plates from the work). In addition to the plates present here, the volume published in 1769 contained a prefatory letterpress discourse on Egyptian and Etruscan architecture, three plates inserted into the text of the essay, and 21 further plates of designs; the absence of the letterpress and the 24 other plates, the lack of numbers on some plates, and the smaller number of plates than those sent to Hollis in 1768 suggest that this set was assembled c.1767. Hind p.86; Wilton-Ely F.I. Volume 6: Opera varie di archittetura, prospettive, grotteschi, antichità , comprising: Prima parte di archittetura [bound: Robison 1.IV, 2.III, 3.III, 5.IV, 15.IV, 16.I, 17.III, 19.II, 20.III, 18.II, 6.III, 7.V (with cancellans caption pasted on), 8.IV, 9.II, 10.III, 11.IV, 12.IV]. Robison's 2nd edition, 5th issue; Opere varie di archittetura [bound: W.-E. 746, 46-7, 747, 49, 48, 745, 748, 50, 738 (third state), 44-5]; Grotteschi [bound: Robison 21.II, 22.III, 23.III, 24.II]. Robison's 2nd edition, 4th issue; Carceri d'invenzione [bound: Robison 29.VII, 43.IV, 30.IV, 31.IV, 44.II, 32.V, 33.IV, 34.IV, 35.VI, 36.IV, 37.V, 38.IV, 39.IV, 40.IV, 41.V, 42.IV] Robison's 2nd edition, 3rd issue. Rome: G.B. Piranesi, '1750' [but c. late 1760s-c.1770]. Title printed in red and black with etched vignette [Robison 28.II], 49 plates on 44 sheets, 18 double-page. Hind pp. 78-81; Robison Early Architectural Fantasies 'Catalogue'; Wilton-Ely B.I, B.V, B.II, B.IV. [ Bound with :] Trofei di Ottaviano Augusto innalzati per la vittoria ad Actium e conquista dell'Egitto . [Rome: Bouchard, 1753.] 8 plates, 6 double-page, with 2 additional plates from Vasi [bound: W.-E. 272, 271, 935-6, 274, 273, 276, 278, 275, 277]. (Lacking title.) Hind pp. 82-3; Wilton-Ely D.I. [ And :] Antichità romane de' tempi della repubblica, e de' primi imperatori . Rome: G.B. Piranesi, [1748]. 2 parts bound in one volume, 2 etched part-titles [W.-E. 103 and 119], dedication leaf [W.-E. 104