Beschreibung:

I Pregi della Toscana nell' Imprese piu' Segnalate de Cavalieri di Santo Stefano Author: Fontana, Fulvio Place: Florence Publisher: Per Pier Mattia Miccioni, e Michele Nestenus Date: 1701 Description: 37 loose copper-plate engravings by Hubert Vincent 25x18 cm (9¾x7"), Plate I with trimmed margins. Includes 109 disbound text leaves with floriated woodcut initials and woodcut head- and tail-pieces, includes repaired title page (mounted to backing sheet). (Folio) 35.5x24 cm (14x9½"), presented with beveled and gilt-illuminated wood boards from different book. First Edition. Lacking half-title page, engraved portrait, and some text leaves. OCLC/WorldCat locates only two copies, those being held at the National Maritime Museum in England and at the Library of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. The Merits of Tuscany in the Endeavors Most Noted of the Knights of St. Stephen, Highlighted by Fulvio Fontana of the Society of Jesus and Dedicated to his Royal Highness, Cosimo III, the Grand Duke of Tuscany and Grand Master of the Order. The Order of Saint Stephen is a Roman Catholic Tuscan dynastic military order founded in 1561. The objective of the order was to fight the Ottoman Turks and Barbarossa's corsairs—pirates that sailed the Mediterranean Sea in the 16th century. The plates show scenes of naval battles against the Ottomans and Barbary corsairs leading up to the famous battle of Lepanto. Each engraving presented in mylar sleeve. Lot Amendments Condition: Title page repaired and mounted on backing leaf, institutional stamps on title page, some soiling to plates around margins, occasional stains and margin creases; a few repairs to text leaves; plates near fine, else good. Item number: 325359