Hamilton and d'Hancarville. Collection of Etruscan, Greek, and Roman Antiquities. [1766-67]. 4 volumes. red morocco

HAMILTON, WILLIAM--HUGUES, PIERRE-FRANÇOIS, CALLED D'HANCARVILLE

Collection of Etruscan, Greek, and Roman Antiquities from the Cabinet of the Hon. W. Hamilton his Britannick Maiesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Court of Naples; Antiquités etrusques, grecques et romaines. Naples: (François Morelli), [1766-67]

FIRST EDITION, 4 volumes, folio (463 x 356mm.), text in French and English in volume 1 and 2, 8 hand-coloured engraved titles, 5 engraved leaves of dedication, etched initials and head- and tail-pieces, 437 etched and engraved plates (over 170 hand-coloured, 76 double-page or folding), modern red morocco to style by Aquarius of London, covers with gilt panels, gilt dentelles, spine with raised bands in 6 compartments, green morocco spine labels, English engraved title and dedication in volume 3 with repairs to verso, one title in volume 2 slightly shorter and the other with light marginal loss, last plate in volume 3 with minor worming, occasional minor spotting or offsetting, a few plates slightly shaved

A FINE COMPLETE SET. A splendid catalogue of the collection of ancient vases assembled by Hamilton after he was appointed to the court of Naples in 1764. The art historian Pierre-François Hugues introduced Hamilton to the Porcinari family who owned a large collection of classical vases which Hamilton bought and enlarged. They were sold to the British Museum in 1772. The first two volumes of the catalogue were issued, but publication was interrupted when Hugues was expelled from Naples, and the plates for the remaining volumes were held by creditors. Apparently only 100 copies of the later volumes were issued nine years later, explaining the high number of incomplete sets.

LITERATURE:

Blackmer 845 (435 plates); Cohen-De Ricci 474; Berlin Kat 890

PROVENANCE:

Countess Anna Laetitia Pecci-Blunt (1885-1971), ink stamps; Christie's, 4 June 2008, lot 274, £51,650