JF Ptak Science Books
The following four engravings appeared in the massive La Basilica di San Marino du Venezia, published by the prolific Ferdinand Ongania in 1886. It is an exhaustive study of the iconic building, the publication being known chiefly I think for its very large and sumptuous chromolithographs of the building's architecture, art, and endless detail. It forms two volumes of an overall monumental 12-volume epic, though these were complete in themselves.
But then there are these engraving, in wonderful black-and-white, showing with fantastic detail and with a deft touch the mosaics of the basilica. I believe that there were six overall but I sold two some time ago and hadn't made a digital record of them. Since I have these and another 22 images from that great work, and since I can't seem to find them online, I thought to make at least rudimentary photographs of them and share. (Making the pictures was a little problematic, as they are pretty large at 27x21", so some of the lines are a little parabolic, though I think they're good enough given limited time to spend on them--also each image is at least 2 meg, so they can stand some amount of enlarging.)
The engravings (again, they are large at 27x21", 68x53cm, and are packed with detail). They are printed on a very thick paper that will now crack if you try the double-fold test, so although the paper is stable you do not want to bend it, though you wouldn't want to do that, anyway. Each sheet has a protective paper guard attached to it on the left side, covering the entire image--the reason why you may see a shadow along one long side is just from the rolled-back protective sheet not getting completely out of the way. Also all of the margins are not necessarily included in the photos--there were certain limitations in making the photographs, and some margins just didn't make ti entirely into the picture. IF you want more full images, please let me know and I'll send a jpeg detail shot.
These are large and gorgeous pieces of art, and have a certain value of beauty outside their architectural context. (The images are also very clickable.)
Mosaic engraving 1: $500
Mosaic engraving II: $550
Mosaic engraving III: $650
And a detail from the above:
And another from the engraving two above, simply because it is filled with so much very fine and close work:
And the fourth engraving:
Mosaic engraving IV: $400
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