Glass. NERI. L'arte vetraria distinta in libri... Lot 14

Glass. NERI. L'arte vetraria distinta in libri sette. 4to, mm. 200x140. Stiff vellum, handwritten title on spine. Pages [8], 114, [6]. Woodcut printer's device on title, numerous woodcut initials, some historiated. Slight spread foxing and some dampstains, fine copy. First edition of the first book devoted to glass, its manufacture and coloring. Honeyman: "Many of the secrets of glassmaking are here recorded for the first time. Neri is believed to have learned the art of glassmaking at Murano, near Venice." D.S.B.: "Neri is remembered for L'arte vetraria, 1612, a little book in which many, although by no means all, of the closely guarded secrets of glassmaking were printed for the first time. He recommended that glass be made from rocchetta, a fairly pure sodium sesquicarbonate from the Near East, and tarso, which he described as a kind of marble but which must have been some form of silica. He did not indicate the source of the necessary proportion of lime. The main part of the text deals with the coloring of glass with metallic oxides to give not only clear and uniform colors but also various veined effects. There are chapters on making lead glass of high refractive index and enamel, opaque, glass by the addition of tin oxide." Singer: "The greater part of the book is devoted to the coloration of glass, both to imitate gemstones and for the use of enamellers." Edition quoted by Crusca, see Camerini.