GABINETTO ARMONICO PIENO D'ISTROMENTI SONORI INDICATI E SPIEGATI
1722réf. ST21075Rome: Giorgio Plancho and Gettatore de' Caratteri 1722. FIRST EDITION. 250 x 180 mm. 9 7/8 x 7 1/4". 8 p.l. 170 pp. Contemporary stiff vellum raised bands burgundy morocco label lettered in gilt all edges sprinkled. Engraved title page frontispiece and 151 PLATES DEPICTING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. Front pastedown with bookplates of John Smith Esquire Arthur & Charlotte Vershbow Cia Fornaroli and David R. Godine. Cicognara 1596 citing 148 plates; Brunet I 1086 citing 136 plates; Graesse I 480. A long thin red ruled line to upper cover a few small cuts at edge of front board O1 with insignificant hole trivial loss of text a few light stains isolated faint browning to plates but quite AN EXCELLENT COPY--the leaves extremely fresh and clean and the binding entirely sound and perfectly inoffensive. This is an excellent copy of a sumptuously illustrated Baroque compendium of musical instruments which has been owned by three eminent collectors. A student of Athanasias Kircher the Jesuit scholar Filippo Bonanni also Buonanni 1638-1723 produced works on wide-ranging subjects including anatomy shell-collecting and porcelain lacquer. "Gabinetto Armonico" attempts to catalogue all known musical instruments including a broad range of horns as well as other wind percussion stringed and keyboard instruments not infrequently exotic in appearance and operation from all regions including Florida and the world of Islam. Many of the instruments included here were held in the collection of the Jesuit Collegio Romano where Bonanni was teaching at the time he composed the book; other information was gleaned from various authors and ethnographical reports. The book is organized based on the use for which the music is intended e.g. for festivals funerals battle worship hunting and even navigation. The very attractive illustrations by Flemish-born painter and publisher Arnold van Westerhout 1651-1725 depict the instruments in the hands of their players in their native costumes and environs. While some of the depictions of the ancient and foreign musicians are fanciful the majority of these engravings provide genuine invaluable information on music and musical instruments up to the early 18th century. The musicians are as interesting as the instruments dressed in keeping with the original homeland of the instrument ranging from King David with his harp to fashionable rococo ladies at the keyboards of spinet and cimbalo. Our copy is from the library of Italian ballerina Cia Fornaroli 1888-1954 and her husband Walter Toscanini 1898-1971 a bookseller and choreographer. The couple whose distinguished careers were split between New York and Italy assembled a large collection of works documenting the history of dance in Italy from the Renaissance until the 20th century. The bulk of their library now resides in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Our next notable owners were Arthur 1922-2012 and Charlotte Vershbow 1924-2000 who together built a large collection of prints illuminated manuscripts and printed books. Their collection sold at Christie's New York in a series of four auctions in 2013 the present volume was lot 771. Most recently our copy belonged to American publisher David R. Godine who trained as a printer at Leonard Baskin's Gehenna Press before founding his own publishing firm in 1970. His interest in the art of the book led him to build an extensive library of early printed books with a particular focus on antiquarian illustrated works. Two portions of his collection sold for more than $950000 at Bonham's New York in May 2026. The book is not particularly rare at auction but copies in desirable condition even without the distinguished provenance seen here command substantial prices. Giorgio Plancho and Gettatore de' Caratteri unknown
