Esemplari di caratteri scitti e incise

Oblong format.  170 x 338 mm., [6 ¾ x 13 inches].  Engraved title-page dated 1830, date on the printed wrapper dated 1852.  Comprised of 16 engraved plates of calligraphic specimens; with one inserted calligraphic specimen leaf published by Tomso Finiguerra of Florence, dated 1852.  Stitched as issued with original yellow printed wrappers; some dust soiling to the wrappers; lightly foxed throughout; lower wrapper with 2 inch tear to the wrapper with ancient repair.   Catalogue of books for sale by Fratelli Vignozzi printed on the rear wrapper.

Very good copy of this rare calligraphy book, with the original plates engraved in 1830, and this copy appearing to be issued by the same publisher twenty-two years later.

In addition to the engraved title-page Cominotti's calligraphic specimens include five fine examples of cursive letterforms complete with flourishes and accompanying number forms, three alphabets of upper and lower case letters forms in different sizes, seven texts of proverbs each in a distinctive hand, and a final leaf of ornamental letter forms in both upper and lower cases.

Carlo Cominotti was a cartographer by trade and was known for published world maps, including examples of Europe, Asia, and various European countries.  Most of this work appears to have been accomplished in the 1820's.  In 1829 he published a study of geography entitled, Corso Elementare di Geografia Antica e Moderna  and his first manual for creating letter forms appears to have been published in 1827, titled Metodo per Imparare a Scrivere in Sette Lezione.

All his works were published by Calcografia Vignozzi, a Livorno publisher whose first publications were printed around 1800.  The company appears to have been taken over in the 1840's and called Vignozzi e Nipote and then changed to Dei Fratelli Vignozzi around 1850.  Appearing on the rear wrapper is a list of 19 titles offered for sale by the Fratelli Vignozzi, including books on science, religion, history, geography, mathematics, and the French and Italian language.

SBN (Italian Union Catalogue) only cites the 1827 edition cited above, in one copy in Friuli and OCLC cites a copy of the 1830 edition only at the Newberry Library.

Bonacina, Bibliografia delle Arti Scrittorie e della Calligrafia, no.  Not in Practice of Letters, the Hofer Collection of Writing Manuals, Harvard College, (1997).