La Practica della Perspecttiva

1569. BARBARO, Daniel. La Pratica della Perspettiva di Monsignor Daniel Barbaro Eletto Patriarca D'Aquileia, Opera molto utile a Pittori, a Scultori, & ad Architetti. [2], 196, [12] pp., illustrated with over 200 woodcut diagrams and illustrations of which over 20 are full-page and one double-page. Folio, 300 x 204 mm., bound in contemporary Italian limp vellum, in a new red quarter morocco box. Venice: Camillo and Rutilio Borgominieri, 1569. First edition, second issue with both the title-page and colophon dated 1569. An unsophisticated copy of Daniel Barbaro's treatise on the rules of perspective specifically designed for Italian artists and architects, as previous quality treaties on the subject were in German, French and Latin. Barbaro (1514-1570) borrowed heavily from Serlio and from an unpublished treatise by Piero della Francesca for this work. However, the work stands on its own as an important advance in the understanding and practical use of perspective and brought these ideas to a broader audience. La Pratica della Perspettiva is divided into three parts: the first part discusses the principles of perspective and graphic representations. The second part breaks down the five regular polyhedrons, continuing the work of Leonardo and Pacioli. The last, and perhaps most important section, offers a study of scenography, dimensions of the human body, optical illusions, discussions of colour and shadow, and depictions of drawing instruments including the first analytic discussion of the camera obscura. The work is profusely illustrated with woodcut diagrams, geometrical forms, illustrations of architectural elements, scenery, anatomical illustrations, images of drawing instruments which includes the depiction of two men using one to copy a lute, freely borrowed from Albrecht Dürer's seminal Underweysung der Messung. Perhaps most attractive are the woodcut headpieces adorning the beginning of several chapters, being clever three-dimensional geometrical designs. Notes in Italian in a contemporary hand on the verso of the front flyleaf. Vellum with small stains and cracks, some very light marginal waterstaining, overall a fine copy in its original limp vellum binding, rare thus. PROVENANCE: Ex Libris Liechtensteinianis. Ex Musaeo Hans Furstenberg, with library stamp on front fly-leaf. Millard, Italian 12. Mortimer, Italian 39. Cicognara 809. Adams B170. Berlin Katalog 4694.