Contemporary full vellum binding, renewed endpapers. 6 unnumbered leaves, including Title page, pages 1-67 numbered at the opposite of the engraved plates, 68-81 with continuous numbering, 6 unnumbered ‘Index’ leaves. Ornamented and illustrated initials, woodcut ornaments. On the Title page, copperplate vignette with the Dedicatee’s coat of arms, 66 full-page copper-engraved plates. Handwritten inscription on the Title page with the name of the former owner. Traces of wear on the binding, browning, some stains and fingerprints, some skillful restoration on some plates, overall a good copy.
First edition of this important ornithological book on songbirds. The work, magnificently illustrated with engravings by Antonio Tempesta and Francesco Villamena, illustrates the methods of capturing birds, keeping them and caring for them. 43 plates depict birds, 23 illustrate hunting scenes, cages, aviaries, hunting and capture apparatus: the representations are explained in the text opposite the plates. The work is partly based on “Il canto degl'avgelli” by Valli da Todi (Rome 1601). The beautiful engravings show various songbirds, falconry, the capture of birds with the help of traps, nets, cages and even the disguises of hunters, as well as hunting scenes by day and by night and a scene of a musician.
Schwerdt: “A book on bird catching, delightful chiefly owing to Tempesta's spirited illustrations of the methods employed by fowlers in the beginning of the 17th century” Harting: “The engravings are much superior to the figures of birds by English and French artists of the same period”.
Ceresoli: “Quest'opera, testo di lingua, è divenuta rara nel corso dei secoli, ed è ancor più difficile a trovarsi in buone condizioni, essendo quasi sempre deturpata da tracce d'uso... Non deve destare meraviglia la grande fama che l'Uccelliera ebbe in ogni tempo, se si ricorda che fu considerata e si considera tutt'ora il capolavoro dell'arte tipografica e figurativa del secolo XVII.” The work is dedicated to Cavalier Cassiano del Pozzo ‘mio Signore’ [my Lord]. Solinas: “Signed by his house master G.P. Olina and destined for the naturalistic research of the Accademia dei Lincei, primary European scientific institution, this is Cassiano Dal Pozzo’s first editorial work.”
Nissen, IVB 693; Anker 380; Schwerdt II, 48; Ceresoli 386; Harting 278; Gamba 2029.
See Francesco Solinas, L’Uccelliera. Un libro di arte e di scienza nella Roma dei primi Lincei, 2015.