"Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae": Album with 43 plates.

Folio: [1]-43-[1] ff, 41 double folio engravings and 2 folio, mostly signed, wide margins (some ff. trimmed short).

Contemp. limp vellum cover, vellum spine with ms. title (2 sm. defects on spine, sl. rubbed, sl. warping).

Unique album with large folio engravings, all part of the large print project known as the "Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae", started in the 1540s by the Roman publishers Antonio Salamanca and Antonio Lafreri. These etchings and engravings with representations of the antique and modern marvels of Rome were purchased by tourists as souvenirs, studied by antiquarians, used as models by artists, and circulated as virtual visits for armchair travellers beyond the city walls. By the mid 1570s collectors could also purchase a title page for use in binding their own Speculum collections. As a result, Lafreri’s customers collected images to suit their own needs or taste (no extant version of the Speculum is identical in content or organisation). After the death of Lafreri in 1577, the print project was continued by subsequent editors who had purchased his copper plates, and who kept adding new prints by other engravers. The majority of the prints in this album were edited by the de' Rossi brothers and two Flemish emigrants Nicolaes van Aelst (ca. 1550-1613) and Hendrick van Schoel (ca. 1565-1622), who had set up shop in Rome to become prominent publishers of prints and maps. In December 1588, Van Aelst was granted the papal privilege for prints of Roman monuments built or altered by Sixtus V (nos. 5-10). In particular, Speculum prints edited by van Schoel (nos. 15-17, 19, 23, 25, 29, 30, 32, 39, 40) are extremely rare.
All prints have been numbered with brown ink, which corresponds to a ms. inventory on the flyleaf. Above this inventory the first owner also mentioned that the prints were purchased in Rome: "stampe comprate a Roma". Based on the latest editions in the album, this must have occurred after 1675.
1. Giorgio Wichman - Map "Nova Campagna di Roma". Rome, Giovanni Giocomo de' Rossi, ca. 1660. With ms. text in brown ink "maioris monasterij congreg. s. mauri".
2. Anonymous - Pope Clement X opening the Holy Gates. Rome, Giovanni Giacomo de' Rossi, 1675.
3. Giovanni Battista Braccelli - Mass at Bernini's baldachin in St. Peter's. Rome, Giovanni Battista de' Rossi, ca. 1660.
4. Francesco Villamena - Pope Innocent X visiting the Seven Holy Churches of Rome during the Holy Year 1650. Rome, Giovanni Marco Paluzzi, 1650.
5. Anonymous - Trajan's Column with the coat of arms of Pope Sixtus V. Rome, Giovanni Giacomo de' Rossi, ca. 1650 (first state by Nicolaes van Aelst in 1589).
6. Anonymous - The Column of Marcus Aurelius after the restoration ordered by Sixtus V in 1589. Rome, Giovanni Giacomo de' Rossi, ca. 1650 (first state by Nicolaes van Aelst in 1589).
7. Anonymous - The Egyptian obelisk positioned in front of Santa Maria Maggiore during the pontificate of Sixtus V. Rome, Giovanni Giacomo de' Rossi, ca. 1650 (first state by Nicolaes van Aelst in 1589).
8. Anonymous - View of the Egyptian obelisk of Rameses II, re-erected in Piazza Santa Maria del Popolo during the pontificate of Sixtus V. Rome, G.G. de' Rossi, ca. 1650 (first state by Nicolaes van Aelst in 1589).
9. Ambrogio Brambilla - View of the Egyptian obelisk of Tutmosis III, re-erected at the Lateran by Domenico Fontana during the pontificate of Sixtus V. Rome, G.G. de' Rossi, ca. 1650 (first state by Nicolaes van Aelst in 1589).
10. Anonymous - View of the Egyptian obelisk erected at St Peter's Square under the pontificate of Sixtus V. Rome, G.G. de' Rossi, ca. 1660-70.
11. Louis Rouhier - Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers on Piazza Navona seen from the East. Rome, G.G. de' Rossi, 1651.
12. Louis Rouhier - Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers on Piazza Navona seen from the West. Rome, G.G. de' Rossi, 1651.
13. Ambrogio Brambilla - Section and elevation of the Colosseum in Rome. Rome, Nicolaes van Aelst, ca. 1600 (first state by Duchetti in 1581).
14. Nicolas Beatrizet - The Pantheon. Rome, Nicolaes van Aelst, ca. 1590.
15. Anonymous - The Porta Maggiore. Rome, Hendrick van Schoel, ca. 1610 (first state by Lafreri in 1549).
16. Anonymous - The Arch of Janus on the Forum Boarium. Rome, Hendrick van Schoel, 1613-1622 (first state by Tomasso Barlacchi in 1550).
17. Anonymous - Temple of Antoninus and Faustina. Rome, Hendrick van Schoel, ca. 1620 (first state by Antonio Lafreri in 1565).
18. Ambrogio Brambilla - Baths of Agrippa. Rome, Giovanni Orlandi, 1590 (first state by Duchetti in 1585).
19. Jacob Bos (after Pirro Ligorio) - Baths of Diocletianus and Maxentius. Rome, Hendrick van Schoel, 1615 (first state by Bolognini Zaltieri in 1560).
20. Anonymous - Pyramid of Caius Cestius. Rome, Nicolaes van Aelst, ca. 1610 (first state by Lafreri in 1547).
21. Anonymous - Mausoleum of Hadrian. Rome, Nicolaes van Aelst, ca. 1610.
22. Anonymous - Castel Sant'Angelo. Rome, Nicolaes van Aelst, ca. 1610.
23. Étienne Dupérac - Mausoleum of Augustus. Rome, Hendrick van Schoel, ca. 1620 (first state by Lafreri in 1575).
24. Nicolas Beatrizet - The Circus Maximus. Rome, Pietro de' Nobili, 1584-85 (first state by Lafreri in 1553).
25. Ambrogio Brambilla - The ancient harbour of Ostia. Rome, Hendrick van Schoel, 1622.
26. Nicolas Beatrizet (attributed) - Statue of the River God Marforius at the Forum Romanum. Rome, Marcello Clovio, 1587-88 (first state by Lafreri in 1550).
27. Nicolas Beatrizet (attributed) - The sculptural group representing Menelaus supporting the dying Patroclus, known as Pasquino. Rome, Nicolaes van Aelst, 1610 (first state by Lafreri in 1550).
28. Anonymous - The Emperor Commodus dressed as Hercules. Rome, Marcello Clovio, 1587-88 (first state by Salamanca 1542).
29. Anonymous - Statue of Meleager. Rome, Hendrick van Schoel, 1622.
30. Pieter Perret - Diomedes with the Palladium in his left hand. Rome, Hendrick van Schoel, ca. 1620.
31. Anonymous - Venus and Amor. Rome, Giovanni Orlandi, 1602-1613 (first state by Lafreri in 1561).
32. Nicolas Beatrizet - Three antique statues. Rome, Hendrick van Schoel, ca. 1620 (first state by Lafreri in 1549).
33. Philippe Thomassin - Two satirical prints on unequal love and foolish lovers. Only known copies. Rome, ca. 1620.
34. Anonymous - Mithras killing the holy bull. Rome, Hendrick van Schoel, ca. 1620 (first state by Lafreri in 1564).
35. Anonymous - Statue of Romulus and Remus being fed by the wolf. Rome, Nicolaes van Aelst, ca. 1610.
36. Étienne Dupérac - Capitoline Hill. Rome, Giovanni Battista de' Rossi, 1650.
37. Nicolas Beatrizet - Façade of Palazzo Farnese (publisher unknown).
38. Nicolas Beatrizet (attributed) - Interior of Palazzo Farnese. Rome, Giovanni Battista de' Rossi, ca. 1670 (first state by Lafreri in 1560).
39. After Bartolomeo Ammenati - Courtyard of the Villa Giulia. Rome, Hendrick van Schoel, ca. 1620.
40. Ambrogio Brambilla - The reconstruction by Pirro Ligorio of the aviary of Marcus Varro. Rome, Hendrick van Schoel, ca. 1620 (first known state by Tranezini in 1558).
41. Anonymous - La Girandola. Rome, Nicolaes van Aelst, ca. 1600.
42. Anonymous - The deeds of Pope Clement X. Rome, Giovanni Giacomo de' Rossi, 1670.
43. Antonio Tempesta - The procession at the "Possessio" of a new Pope to the Lateran. Rome, Giovanni Battista de' Rossi, 1670.
Ref. Peter Parshall, "Antonio Lafreri's Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae", Print Quarterly 2006, pp. 3-28. - Christian Huelsen, "Das Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae des Antonio Lafreri", 1921. - R. Zorach (ed.), "The Virtual Tourist in Renaissance Rome: Printing and Collecting the Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae", Chicago 2008. - http://spec-ulum.lib.uchicago.edu.
Prov. Franciscan Monastery, Saint-Martin (ms. ownership entry on flyleaf).