Lot 08001

BOSCHINI Marco, [Il regno tutto di Candia. Venice, 1651].

Folio, including the allegorical plate showing the Lion of St Mark over a miniature map of Crete & 57 plates (of 61), plans and maps 8 of which folding. All finely coloured by a contemporary hand and mounted on 18th-century laid paper. Lacking engraved title, plates 24, 25, 26 and 50 and letterpress dedication, tiny marginal tears and stains affecting the mounts. Few marginal short tears & light water-stains on the 18th century paper, one short tear on the lower edge of the Canea folding plate, light signs of water-stain on the Crete map, overall condition of the plates Very Fine. Contemporary paper boards, rebacked with recent leather spine. Although this 1651 edition is referred with 61 plates, a large number of existing copies ending with 57 plates.

This monumental work was published at the eve of the fifth Fifth Ottoman–Venetian War in 1645, while the attension of all the Christian nations was focused upon the fate of the Venetian Crete under the Ottoman siege. It is one of the richest sources about the landscape and history of the Venetian Crete. Here the plates are presented with impressive contemporary hand-colouring [BLACKMER 171].