BICCI Antionio & Gaetano I Contadini della Toscana espressi al naturale

Colas 325; Lipperheide 1320; Bobins II, 575; Rahir, La Bibliothèque de l’amateur, 323.

First edition of this very rare costume work depicting life across Tuscany.

It consists of 60 prints engraved in colour and enhanced by hand by Carlo Lasinio depicting the costumes of the inhabitants of all the provinces of Tuscany: Florence, Arezzo, Grosseto, Livorno, Lucca, Massa Carrara, Pisa, Pistoia, Prato, Siena, etc. Lasinio depicted street vendors, peasant families, couples, etc. in scenes of everyday life, with the superb Tuscan landscapes as a background. The artist and engraver Carlo Lasinio (Treviso 1759 – Pisa 1838) was an engraver, painter and draughtsman who worked in Florence and Pisa. He was a pupil of Edouard Gautier d’Agoty, in whose workshop he learned the technique of colour engraving. Returning to Italy, he worked in Florence and then became curator of the Pisa Gallery. In the present collection, however, Lasinio does not use the method taught by Gautier d’Agoty, but instead adopts the even more recent technique, the so-called “à la poupée” technique: the 60 prints were engraved in colour, the inking of several colours on the same plate thanks to the use of small pads and templates, then finely finished with a brush by the artist. These beautiful plates were engraved by G. Canacci, Cavini, Cecchi, C. Lasinio, Mugnon, G. Pera, Vascellini and Zancon after drawings by Antonio (57) and Gaetano Bicci, Ant. Fedi and G.Piatolli. 

This work is of the greatest interest for the history of costume. The artist endeavoured to portray each scene with great realism, depicting in detail the costumes and accessories of the various professions and provinces, as well as the Tuscan landscape.

A very fine copy of one of the rarest costume books, with very wide margins, untrimmed and well preserved, in which all 60 prints were finely hand-enhanced at the time in bright, shimmering colours. According to our investigations, of all the world’s public libraries, only the National Art Library Victoria & Albert Museum has a coloured copy of this work.