Funerali antichi di diversi popoli, et nationi; forma, ordine, et pompa di sepolture, di essequie, di consecrationi antiche et daltro, descritti in dialogo. Con le figure in rame di Girolamo Porro padovano.
by Porcacchi, Tommaso.
Venetia (Giorgio Angelieri, alle spese de gli Heredi di Simon Galignani de Karera), 1591.. (8), 95, (1)pp. Fully engraved dec. title and 23 numbered engravings by Girolamo Porro in text (approx. 92 x 155 mm. each). Handsome woodcut publishers device in colophon, woodcut culs-de-lampe and lettrines. Lrg. 4to. Contemporary vellum over boards, titled in pen at the spine. Second edition; the first was published by Galignani in 1574. Mortimer notes that several of the copperplates (nos. 3-6, 13, 16) show signs of reworking. This treatise on the funerary customs of the ancients (Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Indian, Scythian and other) was used as a handbook by planners of princely funerals; Vincenzo Borghini, for example, is known to have consulted it for the obsequies of Cosimo I de Medici. The text is in the form of a dialogue about the plates, and begins with a discussion of the illustrator, Girolamo Porro, who is described as the inventor of a flying machine, as well as an artist of remarkable gifts. Porcacchi and Porro collaborated on another work shortly before this, Lisole piu famoso del mondo (Venice, 1572). Porros illustrations are based in part on engravings in Pierre Woeiriots Pinax iconicus antiquorum ac variorum in sepulturis rituum ex Lilio Gregorio excerpta (Lyons, 1556). Occasional light stains and spots; generally a crisp copy, with strong clear impressions of the prints; covers slightly bowed. (Inventory #: B61588-1)