Matthew Boulton's Set of Agostini on Engraved Gems
Agostini, Leonardo. LE GEMME ANTICHE FIGURATE. PARTE PRIMA & PARTE SECONDA. In Roma: Appresso Gio. Battista Bussotti, 1686. Two volumes, complete. 4to, 18th-century matching mottled calf, boards bordered in gilt; spines with five raised bands, richly decorated in gilt, each with two red spine labels lettered in gilt; board edges and turn-ins decorated in gilt; all page edges red. Parte Prima: finely engraved title signed by Galegnetti; 52 pages; engraved portrait of the author; 115 plates depicting engraved gems. Parte Seconda: (8), 72 pages; 152 plates depicting ancient cameos [numbered 1–151, but with two numbered 17]. Occasional spotting and staining; removed bookplates from both volumes; a few old marginal repairs, not affecting images or text. Very good. The second edition, first issue, of this very important work on engraved gems and other ancient carvings. This "second impression" was published posthumously by Agostini's associates Battista Marinelli and Gian Pietro Bellori. The unsigned engravings are credited in the preface to Giovanni Battista Galestruzzi. The first volume is based on the collection belonging to Cardinal Francesco Barberini, a nephew of Agostini's; it is felt that Agostini assembled much of the collection himself. Agostini (1593–1669) served as an authority of antiquities to several popes-this particular work is dedicated to Pope Alexander VII. He published, in 1649, a revision of Filippo Paruta's 1612 Sicilia numismatica. Unlisted by Cicognara. Dekesel A6 (first issue, with Seconda Impressione misspelled Secodna). Sinkankas 29. See Van Damme (1807), lot 1232. Ex Matthew Boulton Library, with the label from the 12 December 1986 Christie's sale of his library in both volumes.