Vico, Reliqua librorum ad Imperatorum historiam ex antiquis nummis, Venice, 1601, later morocco for Stirling-Maxwell

Vico, Enea. Reliqua librorum Aeneae Vici Parmensis ad Imperatorum Historiam Ex antiquis nummis pertinentium. A Iacobo Franco calcographo Veneto in lucem edita. Venice: Giacomo Franco, 1601

The engraver Enea Vico (1523-1567) collected coins and produced one of the first manuals on the subject, maintaining that they had had a practical purpose as currency rather than being merely decorative. This work is a continuation of his Omnium Caesarum imagines, including portraits of emperors from Nerva to Lucius Verus. Giacomo Franco reprinted several of Vico's works around this time, though this is actually the first printing of this continuation of his earlier work. The last leaf of preliminaries contains a list of Vico's publications.

4to (198 x 137 mm). Engraved title-page, 3 letterpress leaves of preliminaries, 68 engraved plates: 72 leaves. Woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces. (Letterpress leaves cut somewhat close.)

binding: Red crushed morocco (228 x 171 mm), with the arms of Stirling-Maxwell [British Armorial Bindings, stamps 44 and 48], spine with gilt lettering, gilt edges. Bound to a larger size to match a similar volume in Stirling-Maxwell's library. (Extremities slightly rubbed.)

provenance: Sir William Stirling Maxwell (1818-1878), arms on binding, and "Arts of Design" bookplate at end, sale, Christie's, 20 May 1958, part of lot 430, to Hammond — Patricia Milne-Henderson (1935-2018), sale, Replica Shoes 's, 18 July 2016, lot 112, £2,000. acquisition: Purchased at the preceding sale. references: USTC 4036028