Fontana, Carlo

Templum Vaticano et ipsius origo. Cum aedificiis conspicuis antiquitus & recens ibidem constitutis. Rome, Giovanni Francesco Buagni, 1694. Large folio (440 x 315 mm) of 16 ff. (title, dedication and bilingual index in Latin and Italian), 489 pp. 14 ff.n.ch., 79 engraved plates included in the pagination (of which 11 folding). Half ivory vellum with corners, smooth spine (binding of the (19th century binding). Kat. Berlin, 2678; Fowler, 122; Millard, Italian, 38. First edition of this famous work on the architecture of the Vatican. Highlights include a detailed account of the transport of the Vatican obelisk in 1585, with Specchi's marvelous series of engravings detailing this feat of engineering, as well as Fontana's scholarly comparison of the construction of St. Peter's with that of Solomon's temple. A good copy complete with all the required plates. Occasional small tears to the folding plates, otherwise very clean inside. A large-margined copy. this copy does not include the engraved portrait