Quilici (Piccarda)
Biblioteca Casanatense (Rome)

Two volumes (28 cm), I (Text): 687 pp. II (Plates): 350 pp. Publisher’s pictorial wrappers, original plain card slipcase. - Catalogue of 1380 bookbindings in the Biblioteca Casanatense in Rome, arranged chronologically by centuries, and within each century by country and place. There are 22 entries for the 14th century, 110 for the 15th, 373 for the 16th, 578 for the 17th, and 360 for the 18th, with an appendix of 26 Islamic and one Melkite binding. The reason for an attribution is often stated – sometimes analogous bindings, sometimes the watermark of the endleaves, and often a binder’s bill in the library’s own archive (the work of a half-dozen Roman binders of the 18th century can thus be identified with certainty). The plates include 33 in colour and over 70 reproductions of spines or details. ¶ Very good, unmarked copy. Slipcase damaged.