Compendio delle vite de’ pittori veneziani istorici più rinomati del presente secolo con suoi ritratti dal naturale delineati ed incisi da Alessandro Longhi veneziano

Folio, comprising an engraved title page, one leaf of text, 24 fine engraved portraits, and 24 engraved text leaves, one for each artist portrayed; followed by three leaves containing treatises and a final leaf bearing the privilegio (license). A total of 54 leaves, all printed from copperplates.

Reference bibliographies record 25 portraits; however, complete copies are rare, as either the portrait of Polazzo or that of Balestra is usually missing. The present copy includes the portrait of Balestra.

Contemporary full vellum binding, with gilt tooling to the spine. Second edition, issued after 1764, without the decorative etched borders surrounding the portraits, as the copperplates used for the impressions had already suffered considerable wear. One of the most celebrated and valuable publications of eighteenth-century Venice, illustrated with portraits engraved by Alessandro Longhi, son of the renowned genre painter Pietro Longhi.

An exceptionally fresh copy in pristine condition.