Pietro BELLORI, Veteres Arcus Augustorum Triumphis... Lot 15

Pietro BELLORI, Veteres Arcus Augustorum Triumphis Insignes Rome, Ad Templum Sanctæ Mariæ de Pace (de Rossi), 1690 1 vol. in-folio: 3 ff, 13 pl., 4 ff. text, 33 plates. Bound in the 1920s, half-night-blue morocco with 5 faux-nerfs, vat paper, gilt head. A very fine, fresh copy with full margins. Provenance: from the library of Augustus Frederick de Sussex (1773-1843), sixth son of King George III of England, Grand Master of the United Lodge of England and President of the Royal Society of Arts from 1816. His library was auctioned off in six sales between July 1844 and August 1845. One of the high-quality productions of the Roman publisher De Rossi, forerunner of Pontifical Chalcography, who composed and recomposed these collections, sometimes using the same engravings. The main theme here is that of ancient triumphal arches and the bas-reliefs that decorate them. The book's British fate is a good illustration of the widespread distribution of Roman publications by wealthy enthusiasts visiting Italy.