The Italian job

Whew. Finally wrapped up scanning every plate from Costumi die Secoli, a project begun, well, too long ago. I have plans for the beautifully hand-painted plates, which illustrate the clothing worn by professionals (lawyers, notaries, monks, soldiers), as well as royalty, celebs and others.

The two-volume book was published in Florence in 1837. Each plate is accompanied by historical and descriptive text, all of which was scanned, too. Both books are falling apart, with pages that are heavily foxed. Tissue covers each plate, but most of it also is foxed. Happily, the central images themselves are in good condition.

Most of the scans have been cleaned up, except for the title page, below, which I posted as is to show the true condition of the book. I came upon it at Significant Books, a quirky, used bookstore in my neighborhood that has closed. Sigh. Still miss popping in when walking to my studio. There were always surprises, and once the owners discovered what I do, they set aside material they thought would interest me.

In any case, here is a sampling of the plates …

  
View plates from the first post way back in 2012, and from the second post last spring.