AMICO Bernardino Trattato delle Piante & Immagini de Sacri Edifizi di Terra Santa Disegnate in lerusalemme secondo le regole della Prospettiua, & uera misura

Atabey, 20 ; Berlin Kat. 2782 ; Blackmer 31 ; Fowler 19 ; Lugt, Callot, 306-352.

First edition illustrated by Jacques Callot.

Bernardino Amici, from Gallipoli in the Kingdom of Naples, a Franciscan monk, was the prior of his order in Jerusalem in 1596. During a five-year stay, he drew and accurately described the holy places; and, on his return to Italy, he published this curious and interesting work in Italian.

It contains 46 plates (numbered 1 to 47, number 42 omitted) engraved by Jacques Callot, printed on 34 double page sheets. The work had been previously published in 1609 by Antonio Tempesta with only 38 engravings. According to Lugt this is the only issue of the plates by Callot who indicates that they are unique in the artist’s oeuvre (“l’on ne rencontre nulle autre part ce genre de travail dans l’oeuvre de l’artiste“). He then pursues about the uniqueness of this suite by citing Mariette (the plates “sont gravées d’une manière très ferme et le peu de figures qui s’y rencontrent sont des mieux qu’ai faites Callot“).

“Second edition, but the first with the plates engraved by Jacques Callot. The first edition was printed at Rome in 1609 with 38 plates and views engraved by Antonio Tempesta. Callot later worked with Tempesta, and in fact had gone to Florence in 1614 on his business – where legend has it that he was restrained by Cosimo II de Medici. At any rate Cosimo himself commissioned the engravings for the second edition; it is dedicated to him and his arms appear on the title. Callot re-engraved and occasionally re-worked the original plates, adding nine new plates for the new edition. These engravings were done by Callot just at the beginning of his most productive period, and they are unique in his oeuvre… The plates were apparently printed first, on double page sheets, then the descriptive letterpress text for each plate was set up to be printed on the versos of the plates” (Blackmer).

Due to the complicated printing process in this copy plate number 20 is present up-side down

Fine, clean, and well-preserved copy

Provenance : Jean-Philippe Bernard, marquis de Cordoüan (armorial book plate, owner of Château de Montebise) – Mortemart family.