The second semester of sales at Il Ponte Casa d'Aste will open on September 19, 2023 with the Antique Books and Livres d'Artistes Auction and a tribute to Lombard Enlightenment and the city of Milan.
Indeed, the masterpiece of modern criminology, "Dei Delitti e delle pene" by Cesare Beccaria, takes a prominent place among the first lots in the catalogue (€ 12,000 - € 18,000), as a rare first edition printed in Livorno by the typographer Marco Coltellini in 1764.
A jewel of the publishing sector, evoking the cultural ferment typical of a centre of Mittel-European culture, is also the elegant booklet with twenty-eight autographed musical scores that belonged to Carolina Verri, in which among the names of great masters are those of Richard Wagner (of whom there is also an autographed vintage photograph), Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi and Arturo Toscanini (€ 5,000 - 8,000).
Lot 13
BECCARIA, Cesare (1738-1794)
Dei Delitti e delle pene. [Livorno: Tipografia Coltellini], 1764.
Estimate € 12,000 - 18,000
Lot 182
[MUSICA - OPERA. WAGNER, ROSSINI, VERDI, TOSCANINI E ALTRI]
Elegant booklet that belonged to the famous Milanese Carolina Verri (1820-1902) containing 28 scores,
an original signed photograph, signatures and dedications of famous 19th and 20th century musicians.
Estimate € 5,000 - 8,000
Also from Milan and referring to one of its most brilliant minds, is the intimate collection of 88 writings sent by Dino Buzzati to his beloved, friend and companion Carla Marchi, between 1946 and 1971: a unique autobiographical representation, top lot of the sale embellished with many illustrations by the renowned journalist, through which he describes themes and places dear to him (€ 20,000 - 30,000).
Another highlight is an extremely rare work difficult to find on the market and printed in 1667. It is the Italian translation by Alessandro Vitrioli of the very first treatise on chocolate written by Spanish physician Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma, with Vitrioli's addition of numerous tips on cocoa preparations and recipes (€ 2,000 - € 3,000).
Lot 172
BUZZATI, Dino (1906-1972)
Copious collection of 88 writings sent by Buzzati to Carla Marchi between 1946 and 1971.
Estimate € 20,000 - 30,000
Lot 210
[GASTRONOMIA - CIOCCOLATA] - COLMENERO DE LEDESMA, Antonio (sec. XVII)
Talking about chocolate divided into four parts by Antonio Colmenero Ledesma, doctor and surgeon of the city of Ecija in Andalusia
translated from the Spanish language into Italian, with the addition of some annotations by Alessandro Vitrioli. Rome: in the R.C.A printing house, 1667.
Estimate € 2,000 - 3,000
Another marvellous evidence of the past is offered by an illustrated armour catalogue, an unprecedented work printed in 1601, which belonged to Cardinal Richelieu and was compiled by Jacob Schrenck Von Notzing on commission from Prince Ferdinand II (€ 5,000 - 8,000) and the first edition of the most important Italian treatise on dance of the 16th century, by Fabritio Caroso published in Venice in 1581 (€ 5,000 - 8,000).
Among the illustrated works is an extraordinary 19th century Italian book dedicated to ornithology by naturalist Eugenio Bettoni, with splendid drawings of more than 20,000 species of birds nesting in Lombardy, inspired by the Counts Turati collection (€ 8,000 - 12,000) and the contemporary work by Giulio Ferrario with 1434 plates on the customs and traditions of the peoples of the world (€ 8,000 - 13,000).
Lot 164
SCHRENCK von Notzing, Jakob (1539-1612)
Augustissimorum Imperatorum, Serenissimorum Regum, atque Archiducum, Illustrissimorum Principum, necnon Comitum, Baronum.
Innsbruck: Hans Paur, 1601.
Estimate € 5,000 - 8,000
Lot 25
CAROSO, Fabritio (ca.1526-ca.1605)
Il Ballarino. Venice: Francesco Ziletti, 1581.
Estimate € 5,000 - 8,000
Lot 235
BETTONI, Eugenio (1845-1898)
Natural history of the birds that nest in Lombardy as an illustration of the ornithological collection of the brothers
Ercole and ErnestoTurati. Milan: with the types of the Pio Istituto del Patronato, 1865-1868.
Estimate € 8,000 - 12,000
Lot 267
FERRARIO, Giulio (1767-1847)
The costume ancient and modern or history of the government, militia, religion, arts, sciences and customs of all ancient and
modern peoples proven with the monuments of antiquity and represented with analogous drawings.
Milan: Publisher's typography, 1815.
Estimate € 8,000 - 12,000
Following the successful auction in January with the renowned "Carceri d'Invenzione" (sold € 42,500), the engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi is again present in the catalogue with a suggestive work inspired by the ruins of the Acqua Giulia castle located in Rome on the Esquiline Hill (€ 2,800 - 3,500).
As always, the catalogue also presents a consistent section of livres d’artistes, with highly sought-after volumes such as Fortunato Depero's "imbullonato" (€ 10,000 - 15,000) and other great masters, including: Henri Matisse, John Baldessari, Enrico Castellani, Mimmo Rotella and Lucio Fontana.
Lot 159
PIRANESI, Giambattista (1720-1778)
The ruins of the castle of Acqua Giulia located in Rome near S. Eusebio and falsely called dell'Acqua Marcia with the declaration
of one of the famous passages of the Frontinian Commentary and exposition of the manner in which the ancient Romans distributed the waters for the use of the city.
[Rome]: they are sold by the author at the Trinità de' Monti, [in Rome: in the printing house of Generoso Salomoni, 1761].
Estimate € 2,800 - 3,5000
Lot 310
DEPERO, Fortunato (1892-1960)
Depero futurista. Rovereto: Dynamo Mercury typography, 1927.
Estimate € 10,000 - 15,000