The year 2024 concluded with the acquisition of the Codice Santini by the Ministry of Culture for the Palazzo Ducale in Urbino.
The new sales year kicks off once again with Antique and Artist Books, with a rare and equally sophisticated selection of works set to be presented on 25 and 26 February.
The calibre of this offering is immediately apparent in the section dedicated to artists' books, where the unmistakable and extremely rare “LITO-LATTA” by Tullio d'Albisola (€ 18,000 - 25,000) stands out. This work encapsulates the essence of Futurism through Bruno Munari’s daring illustrations, the publisher’s binding with a cylindrical tin spine—symbolic of an ode to industry—and texts enhanced by a foreword by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti.
Lot 63
TULLIO D'ALBISOLA (1899-1971) - Bruno MUNARI (1907-1998)
L'Anguria lirica (lungo poema passionale). Presentazione di Marinetti (dell'Academia d'Italia). Chiarimento di V. Orazi. Illustrazioni di Bruno Munari.
Rome and Savona: Edizioni Futuriste di Poesia, senza data [circa 1933].
Estimate € 18.000 - 25.000
Another extraordinary piece in this section is “Apocalissi e sedici traduzioni” by Lucio Fontana and Giuseppe Ungaretti (€ 4,000 - 6,000), published in 1965 in just 150 numbered copies. It represents an intense dialogue between word and image, enriched by two “Concetti Spaziali” created by these two visionaries of the 20th century.
Lot 48
FONTANA, Lucio (1899-1968) - Giuseppe UNGARETTI (1888-1970) Apocalissi e sedici traduzioni. Ancona: Bucciarelli, 1965.
Estimate € 4.000 - 6.000
Artistic brilliance also shines through in the selection of 18th-century Venetian views, always captivating, including the publication by Antonio Visentini (€ 7,000 - 10,000). This work, created in 1742, celebrates and promotes Canaletto’s oeuvre on an international level, with 38 plates tracing a magical itinerary along the Grand Canal, from Rialto to the basin of San Marco. Alongside this is “Le Fabriche e Vedute di Venezia” by Luca Carlevariis (€ 8,000 - 12,000), which immortalises the Serenissima at its peak in the early 18th century.
Lot 18
[CANALETTO] - VISENTINI, Antonio (1688-1782) da Giovanni Antonio CANAL (1697-1768, detto 'Il Canaletto')
Urbis Venetiarum prospectus celebriores. Venice: Giovanni Battista Pasquale, 1742-51.
Estimate € 7.000 - 10.000
Lot 19
CARLEVARIIS, Luca (1663-1730) Le fabriche e vedute di Venezia.
[Venice: Giovan Battista Finazzi a San Giovanni Crisostomo, ca. 1703].
Estimate € 8.000 - 12.000
Nature, that tireless teacher and inexhaustible source of inspiration, takes centre stage in the monumental “Historiae naturalis” by Ulisse Aldrovandi (€ 22,000 - 28,000). Created between 1599 and 1668, this work spans 13 magnificent volumes illustrated by Jacopo Ligozzi.
Lot 93
ALDROVANDI, Ulisse (1522-1605) - [Opera omnia].
Bologna: Bellagamba, Benacci, Bonomi, Tebaldini, Ferroni, 1599-1668.
Estimate € 22.000 - 28.000
Closing this exceptional selection is the immeasurable cultural value of “Fables Choisies” by Jean de La Fontaine (€ 7,000 - 10,000), presented in a first edition with contemporary binding from 1668, adorned with elegant vignettes by François Chauveau. One of the most celebrated and refined expressions of 17th-century literature, it was dedicated by La Fontaine to the eldest son of Louis XIV. This timeless masterpiece solidifies La Fontaine’s place as one of the greatest authors of French Classicism.
Lot 100
LA FONTAINE, Jean de (1621-1695) - Fables Choisies. Paris: Claude Barbin, 1668.
Estimate € 7.000 - 10.000