104 - HANCARVILLE (PIERRE-FRANÇOIS HUGUES, D')

HANCARVILLE (PIERRE-FRANÇOIS HUGUES, D') Monuments to the Private Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Based on a Series of Engraved Stones from Their Reigns. Rome: Vatican Press, 1786. In-8, XII-236 pp. Green half-shagreen, ribbed spine, gilt title (19th-century binding). The illustrations consist of a frontispiece and 50 free-standing copper engravings, each accompanied by an explanatory text. This edition is often accompanied by its sequel, *Monuments of the Secret Cult of Roman Women* (which explains the note “end of Volume One” at the end). After a life of adventure, the antiquarian Pierre-François Hughes, known as d’Hancarville (1719–1805), collaborated with William Hamilton on his archaeological research in Naples; “The engravings are almost all the invention of d’Hancarville, and not taken from ancient stones or cameos as the preface suggests. The text offers an explanation filled with passages borrowed from Suetonius and Martial. This work was condemned to destruction in 1815 and 1826” (Apollinaire, Fleuret, and Perceau, *L’Enfer de la Bibliothèque Nationale*, nos. 343 and 911). A very fine copy in excellent condition.