Quattro Elegantissime Egloghe Rusticali by ECLOGUES - 1760

Venice: Paolo Colombani, 1760. From the Collection of Arthur & Charlotte Vershbow. 4to (204 x 160 mm). 4 full-page engraved plates after Pietro Antonio Novelli (3) and Francesco Bartolozzi (1) by Antonio Baratti, title-page vignette, one head-piece and 5 tail-pieces, 5 ornamental initials. 19th-century quarter vellum, decorated paper boards. Some pale dampstaining to lower corners, generally crisp. Provenance: Philip Hofer; purchased from Andrew Robison, 1981. FIRST EDITION, of four eclogues on food and wine by various authors associated with the Accademia dei Granelleschi (as stated in the Introduction), including Daniele Farsetti, Tommaso Giuseppi Farsetti, Francesco Bracciolini, and Bernardino Baldi. The plates include one of the earliest works of Francesco Bartolozzi (1727-1815). The full-page illustrations face text that incorporates a large historiated initial marrying elements found in the opposite scene. For example, a beggar crushes garlic in a bowl, while the facing initial shows a garland of the same. Brunet IV:1005; Morazzoni 251; Moschini 122.