112. Scamozzi, Vincenzo.
DISCORSI / SOPRA / L'ANTICHITA DI ROMA / DI / VICENZO
SCAMOZZI / ARCHITETTO VICENTINO / Con XL. Tauole in
Rame. / IN VENETIA, / Appresso francesco ziletti. mdlxxxiii.
4to. Engraved title page (1 leaf); dedication, etc. (6 leaves); table of
contents (8 leaves); text (42 unnumbered pp.); 40 double-page engravings.
The plates are signed either "Battista P" or "B. P. V. F.," as Giovanni
Battista Pittoni, called Vicentino (1520-83), frequently signed his work.
Pittoni was born and worked in Vicenza, producing chiefly landscapes
with ruins or mythological subjects. Some of the plates carry the date
1581. For the engraved title page, see Plate CXXI.
For information about Scamozzi, see No. 111a. Each plate of this
book is accompanied by a careful description written by Scamozzi of
the ancient buildings shown. The plates give views of Rome, and are
rather spirited and energetic (see Plate CXXII).
Kimball (p. 99) says Jefferson bought this book some time between
1785 and 1789. Sowerby, who had not seen a copy, describes it as a folio
volume. Jefferson's own copy was sold to Congress.
He ordered it for the University in the section on "Architecture" of
the want list, but there is no record of its having been received. The library's
present copy is the gift of Julian P. Boyd.
U. Va.
*NA310.S3.1583
M
Sowerby 4194
