Antique Print-CHINESE-BRIDGES-ARCHITECTURE-Rossi-Ferrario-1816

Medium: Line and aquatint etching with original hand coloring on wove (vellin) paper.

Sheet size: 36 x 26.5 cm (14.17 x 10.43 inch). Image size: 22 x 16 cm. (8.66 x 6.3 inch).

Condition: good, given age. Light foxing, creasing and soiling. General age-related toning and/or occasional minor defects from handling. Please study scan carefully.

CHINA, BRIDGES, CHINESE ARCHITECTURE, RIVER CROSSINGS, TRADITIONAL ENGINEERING, FERRARIO, IL COSTUME ANTICO E MODERNO, QING DYNASTY, 19TH-CENTURY PRINTS | PCO-A4-36

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Giulio Ferrario, Il costume antico e moderno, Asia Vol. I, Milan: Antonio Fortunato Stella, 1816. Part of the larger series: ‘Il Costume Antico e Moderno …’ , by Giulio Ferrario, published in Milan in 21 volumes by Antonio Fortunato Stella in 1827 (first edition, second issue). The 17 volumes of the first issue were published sequentially between c. 1815/1816 until 1826 after first being issued in 143 weekly installments. The work appeared in Italian and French. Smaller size editions with smaller much less elaborate plates were published in Florence (1823-38), Naples (1831-42) and even a 16mo. editon in Livorno (1830). Artists that worked on this monumental work are: Gallo Gallina, D.K. Bonatti, A. Biasioli, L. Rossi, Paolo Fumagalli, Gaetano Zancon (1771-1816), G. Bigatti, C. Bramati, G. Gallo, C. Bottiglia, G. Castellini, Antonio Rancati (1784-1816), Vittorio Raineri, Sydney Parkinson, Castelli, A. Sanquirico (1777-1849), Angelo Monticelli (1778-1837), A.L. Rossins, Bottigella and others.

Reference: Ferrario: Il costume antico e moderno; Servolini 1955; Davoli 2000.

Biography engraver: Luigi Rossi (1764-1824), Italian painter and engraver, active in Milan. Known for his work on architectural and decorative subjects. Contributed many illustrations to Ferrario’s encyclopedic publication Il costume antico e moderno.

Biography artist: Giulio Ferrario (1767-1847), Italian scholar, bibliographer, and publisher. Director of the Biblioteca Braidense and compiler of Il costume antico e moderno, a vast encyclopedic ethnographic work. Giulio Ferrario was founder of the ‘Societa Tipografica de Classici Italiani’ and served as the director of the Braidense National Library in Milan, Italy. Artists that worked on this monumental work are: Gallo Gallina, D.K. Bonatti, A. Biasioli, L. Rossi, Paolo Fumagalli, Gaetano Zancon (1771-1816), G. Bigatti, C. Bramati, G. Gallo, C. Bottiglia, G. Castellini, Antonio Rancati (1784-1816), Vittorio Raineri, Sydney Parkinson, Castelli, A. Sanquirico (1777-1849), Angelo Monticelli (1778-1837), A.L. Rossins, Bottigella and others.