The first edition of the first illustrated book on costume

Lot 19

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Rare Books, Autographs & Maps

By Doyle

Nov 25, 2025

Set Reminder 2025-11-25 10:00:00 2025-11-25 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Rare Books, Autographs & Maps https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/doyle/rare-books-autographs-maps-21321 Auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps on Tuesday, November 25, 2025 at 10am Consignments Are Currently Being Accepted for Future Auctions We Invite You to Contact Us for a Complimentary Auction Evaluation of Your Collection Doyle info@doyle.com

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Lot Description

VECELLIO, CESARE Degli habiti antichi et moderni di diverse parti del mondo libri due. Venice: Damiano Zenaro, 1590. First edition. Two parts in one, bound in early 19th-century full red morocco (likely an English binding), the covers and flat spine with simple gilt rules, marbled endpapers; all edges gilt. 7 1/2 x 4 3/4 inches (19 x 12 cm); [24], 499 pp., collating a-c, A-3R8 3S4 (-3S4, the terminal blank) as usual, b3 in the preliminaries is missigned as a3; illustrated with 418 superb woodcut engravings by Christopher Friedrich Krieger of Nuremberg (vide p. 200, the description of the Bolognese noblewoman, which notes the plates as "finalmente intagliato da Christoforo Guerra [i.e. Krieger] Thedesco da Norimbergo"); the first part primarily depicting figures in European costume (and with five views of Venice), the second with illustrations of Asian and African dress (with a selection on the dress of China and the Canary Islands), all plates within elaborate wood-engraved borders. Binding with some fading to the spine, rubbing to joints and edges, and minor scuffing to covers; title-page a trifle soiled and discreetly mounted, occasional very minor spotting and toning, in all a rather fresh example. The title page bears a faint erased inscription at the foot (offsetting slightly to the following leaf), and the name "Vertue" in ink in an 18th-century hand. Cesare Vecellio (1521-1601), author and illustrator of the present work, was a painter and draftsman of prominence. He was a cousin of the painter Titian, in whose workshop he trained. By 1570, he was active as a publisher. In addition to the present work, which is the first illustrated costume book, he is also known for the remarkable fore-edge paintings he produced for the Pillone family library, which are among the earliest examples of that art. The name written on the title page bears a strong resemblance to the form of the signature of the English antiquary and engraver George Vertue. As a work on historical and modern costume, this would have been a likely work for him to have owned. Colas 2976; Lipperheide Aa 33;

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