[ESTACO, Aquiles or Achille STATIUS]. - Lot 45

[ESTACO, Aquiles or Achille STATIUS]. Portraits of illustrious men (sic) as they appear in the city. Rome, (Lafrery), 1569. Small folio, engraved title page, LII plates. Contemporary vellum, smooth spine, speckled edges (a few stains or marks on the binding and the inner fore-edge of the book on a few quires; the upper hinge is slightly split but the interior remains fresh). A rare first edition of this 16th-century series of antique etchings. Contains 52 black etchings of busts or herms depicting illustrious or mythical Greeks and Romans, engraved on a neutral, shaded background, with titles inscribed within the figures. Based on artifacts found in Rome, this series draws on the collections of Fulvio Orsini and the Farnese family, among others, and constitutes one of the major sources of inspiration for Renaissance painters. Complete with its title page and frontispiece featuring a portico, of which there are slight variations; our copy was engraved prior to the letter from [Lafrery], the publisher. While references to missing plates are sometimes found in public collections, the work is generally listed as complete with 52 engravings. Each figure bears a handwritten caption that (sometimes) mentions the name of the person depicted, as well as the provenance, the collection, and a number in the lower right corner. Although unsigned, the work is attributed to the engraver Agostino Musi, known as Agostino Veneziano or Veneto (c. 1490–after 1536). The preface is by Aquiles Estaço (Achille Stazio or Statius) (1524–1581), secretary to Pope Pius V and the Council of Trent; however, in this instance, only the atlas itself is bound, without the text. Only two entries in the CCFr (BnF and Nice). Antoine Lafrery (1512–1577) was a native of Franche-Comté, a publisher and print dealer, who settled in Rome in the 16th century. Cicognara, 2120.