Estimate € 6,000 - 9,000
Sold € 8,000
Auction: 25 January 2022 at 15:00
[TERREMOTO] - SARCONE, Michele (1731-1797) - Istoria de' fenomeni del tremoto avvenuto nelle Calabrie, e nel Valdemone nell'anno 1783. Naples: Giuseppe Campo, 1784. First edition comprising the text volume and the atlas of this work which is rarely found complete on the market. It is a fundamental testimony on the seismic activity of southern Italy enriched by the very detailed and precise Chorographic map of Calabria Ulterior. The work deals with the first scientific expedition organized in Italy following the disastrous consequences of the earthquakes which in 1783 struck in particular Calabria and the eastern part of Sicily. The famous earthquake affected the territories for more than three years with several tremors, including 5 of grade XI on the Mercalli scale. More than 30,000 people died, hundreds of villages were destroyed, mountains collapsed, rivers changed their course creating new lakes and even the coast was redesigned. The famous expedition started on April 5, 1783 and the following year Campo, commissioned by the Neapolitan Royal Academy, published this text with the reports of the research which was carried out by a group of scientists including Sarconi himself, Angiolo Fasano, Nicolo Pacifico, Father Eliseo della Concezione and Antonio Minasi. The plates, engraved by Antonio Zaballi on drawings by Pompeo Schiantarelli, Bernardino Rulli and Ignazio Stile, illustrate the devastation of the areas affected by the terrible earthquake that irremediably changed the chorography of the affected regions. The chorographic map well represents the dramatic picture of the exceptional alteration of the entire region. It was compiled with great accuracy with the aid of an equatorial machine invented by Father Eliseo della Conciliazione which is illustrated in the final plate. It is the first seismic map ever produced in Italy and it corrects all latitude and longitude errors which appeared in the previous maps of the region. 2 volumes, folio (442 x 302mm) e folio oblungo (358 x 462mm). Text volume with half-title, title in red and black with engraved vignette, initials and headpieces, on paper d2r "Observations made in Calabria, and in the Valdemone border on the phenomena of the 1783 earthquake" and on *1 "Of the equatorial machine, memory of Fr. Elisha della Concezione", with final blank; there are two different versions in SBN printed in the same year, the signature of this edition is a-d2 A-4T2 [ast] -2 [ast] 2 (severe dampstaining in lower margin). Atlas with the large Chorographic map of Calabria Ulterior loosely inserted and folded several times by Francesco Progenie after P. Eliseo della Concezione (1158 x 1210mm), 68 numbered plates on 66 sheets and one unnumbered plate depicting the equatorial machine (browning and spotting, some wormtracks in the upper margin but affecting the upper part of the plates from plate 50 and occasionally even before, large map with some small tears at folds, some waterstaining). Contemporary vellum, non uniform labels on spine (some staining, heavier on text volume). The renown hand-colored copy sold in 2007 at Christie's for £66,500 described 70 plates, but other copies have generally been considered complete with 68 numbered plates, one unnumbered plate and the large map. Provenance: private library shelf label. (2)
Estimate € 6,000 - 9,000