204 - Marc'Antonio Dal Re, Villas of Delight, or Beautiful Mansions in the State of Milan, Divided into Six Volumes, with Detailed Plans and Various Views of the Same, Engraved and Printed by Marc'Antonio Dal Re of Bologna. Volume One. In Milan: In the District of Santa Margherita, under the sign of the Imperial Eagle, 1726 [copy with the date corrected in pen to 1727]. A complete collection of 67 double-page plates and more, etched in aquatint, forming part of a variant of the first, extremely rare edition—with the date corrected in pen to MDCCXXVII by adding the last digit—of Marc’Antonio Dal Re’s work dedicated to the “villas of delight” in the Milanese region. This edition was already noted in 1986 in the entry for the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (Biographical Dictionary of Italians) written by Clelia Alberici. For comparison, please refer to the digitized copy in the Getty Institute’s collections (https://archive.org/details/gri_33125006441071/page/n1/mode/2up). This collection of loose plates is composed as follows: title page, frontispiece featuring The Fall of Phaeton, based on a composition by Aureliano Milani; Portrait of Eugene of Savoy and Piedmont; dedication to the prince spanning three double-page spreads; dedication to the reader on a double-page spread; Description of the Villa di Brignano, 10 plates and 1 additional plate; Description of the Villa known as La Simonetta, 4 plates; Description of the Villa di Robecco, 7 plates; Description of the Borromean Island of Bella, 3 plates; Description of the Villa of Merate, 10 plates; Description of the Villa of Oreno, 8 plates; Description of the Villa of Belgioioso, 4 plates; Description of the Villa of Cinisello, 7 plates. The collection was published in two editions in 1726 and 1743. The first bears the title: “Villas of Delight, or Country Mansions in the State of Milan, Divided into Six Volumes with Expressive Floor Plans and Various Views of the Same, Engraved and Printed by Marc’Antonio Dal Re of Bologna. Volume One.” Instead of the planned six volumes, it was published as a single volume consisting of 53 plates illustrating eight villas. Each group of prints relating to the same villa is preceded by a “Ragguaglio” plate with a description and information about the builders. All inscriptions are repeated in French. The artist for this edition is Gian Battista Ricaldi, also from Bologna, whose name appears on the engravings. In 1743, Dal Re published a new collection of villas under the same title (with only the dedications and publisher’s information changed: “At the Piazza de’ Mercanti in the Upper Portico of the Scuole Palatine MDCCXLIII”), in two volumes out of the six originally announced. This is a new work comprising 88 plates illustrating twelve villas, all but three of which do not appear in the first edition. The main difference between the two editions is that in this 1743 edition, Dal Re appears as the sole author—that is, both draftsman and engraver—since only his name is indicated in the center of the engraving. No further volumes were released, but an additional 55 plates depicting eight other villas were published separately. (67) Most of the plates retain their original margins; some have one or two margins reduced due to wear and tear or woodworm damage. Traces of a central binding fold with remnants of a binding strip and old glue on the reverse side, sometimes with fractures along the fold line at the bottom or in the center, accompanied by yellowing or browning. Localized foxing and stains along the margins; at the ends of some plates, there are areas missing due to woodworm damage.