Vasari Giorgio. Vite De Più Eccellenti Pittori, Scultori E Architetti.. 1681

Vasari Giorgio (1511-1574). Vite de più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architetti di Giorgio Vasari pittore e architetto, aretino.. all'illustrissimo signore Cristino Martinelli.. In Bologna, Per li Manolessi Stampatori Camerali. 1681.

Full leather binding of the period, with titles and ornamental gilt decorations stamped on the spine. An early ownership bookplate (ex-libris) is affixed to the front pastedown; the edges are red sprinkled. The title pages are printed in red and black, and the text is embellished with elegant historiated initials and woodcut ornamental decorations that articulate the layout of the pages.

The illustrative apparatus includes numerous portraits of the artists discussed in the work, each set within decorative woodcut frames; some of these frames appear without the central portrait, a circumstance already present in the original printing.

This Bologna edition reuses the same woodcut portrait blocks already employed in the celebrated illustrated 1568 edition of the Lives, while also incorporating additional blocks produced at a later date, thereby enriching and expanding the overall iconographic program of the work.

8° (8,70x6,14in). 3 Volumi. Pagine: [16], 76, 432; [2], 543, [1]; [44], 407, [129]

Private collection

Light scattered foxing and occasional browning. A small stain touching the engraved area at the upper margin of the first gatherings of the first volume. Spines and joints somewhat worn, with minor restorations. Overall, however, a genuine copy.