VOLTA, Giovanni Serafino (1764-1842)

Ittiolitologia veronese del museo Bozziano ora annesso a quello del conte Giovambattista Gazola e di altri gabinetti di fossili Veronesi con la versione Latina.

Verona: Dalla stamperia Giuliari, 1796-[1809. A broad margin copy of Volta’s Ittiolitologia, consisting of a text volume in large folio (39.2 x 55.0 cm), pp. LII, CCCXXIII, with the author’s name on CCCXIII, and an atlas with LXXVI copper engraved plates (nineteen folding, double-page or larger) with depictions of 143 fish species, some reaching extreme sizes like il tonno (tuna, Scomber thynnus) with 120 cm and la torpedine (common torpedo Raja Torpedo) with 150 cm, drawn by the Veronese artists Joseph Buffetti and Leonardus Manzatti. Publisher’s wrappers, bindings loose, spines lacking. Volta's voluminous works are often loose and repair is in most cases needed. Both volumes of our copy are stored in conservation boxes ”elegante cofanettos”, handmade by Andrea Fioravanti former bookbinder of the Uffizi Gallery Museum in Florence. Text volume with some water staining to outer margins of a few pages. Atlas with some inoffensive water staining to margins not affecting images. A few gatherings, including text and plates, slightly browned. Total weight 12 kg, additional shipping costs.

A complete copy. Overall in good condition.

Volta describes the fossil fish collections of the Museo Bozziano, comprising the collections of Count Giovambattista Gazzola and others. All fossils were from Monta Bolca near Verona. Volta studied many ichthyological works of his time in order to determine the various species e.g. for the European fauna (Belon 1553, Salviani 1554-58 Gessner (1558), Aldrovandi 1612-1613, Willughby 1686, Marsigli 1726, Gronovius 1726, Bloch (1784-1788) and Bonnaterre 1788); the American fauna (Marcgraff 1648 and Catesby 1754) and Asian fauna (Renard 1718-1719, Valentijn 1724-26 and Seba1734-35). For the taxonomy of fishes the Linean binary nomenclature was followed. Examples of non realistic identifications in Volta’s work are Pl.V, fig. 4 l’Ago Cinese (Fistularia Chinensis); Pl.XVI, fig.2 il Persico Americano (Perca formosa) and Pl. XXV, fig.1 la Laccia Indiana (Clupea thrissa). The Ittiolitologia veronese del museo Bozziano was published under the auspices of the Societa Ittiologica di Verona and dedicated to the Royal Society, London. Around 1805 the fish fossils were removed by Napoleon’s Army and taken to Paris. Provenance: Vecchi Libri Studio Bibliografico di Pietro Crini, Firenze, Italia.

Price: € 11500.00