First edition of a vivid description, in French, of the country villa, gardens, and outdoor sculpture collection of the Venetian intellectual Angelo Querini (1721-1796) at Alticchiero, near Padua. Dedicated to William Petty (1623-1687), Marquess of Lansdowne, Prime Minister in 1782-83, the work provides a remarkable record of what was considered one of the most significant Italian gardens of the Enlightenment.
The greater part of Querinis later life was devoted to building and adorning this remarkable villa. Among his closest friends was the ever-charismatic Giustiniana Wynne (1737-1791), countess of Rosenberg. It is from her account that we know most of Alticchiero. This singular woman had in 1762 married the Austrian ambassador, Count Rosenberg. However, her relationship with Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798), the famed adventurer and master of seduction, reflected both her personal independence and her attraction to intellectual and emotional excitement. Casanova himself was captivated by Wynnes sharp mind and lively personality, and their connection, both romantic and friendly, brought a spark of adventure to her life that defied the conventions of 18th-century aristocratic society.
The villas gardens were conceived on an ambitious scale, incorporating parterres, garden temples, a coffee house, and a Chinese pavilion, together with Querinis extensive collection of sculptures, later dispersed. This now-lost cultural landscape is preserved through the plates, which include a folding plan and 29 numbered illustrations (two of them folding), as well as an engraved title page with a vignette by Giovanni de Pian (1764-1800).
The spine has discoloured, a repaired loss at the back board. The text leaves are uncut and partly unopened, minor worming in the outer margins of the first few leaves (not affecting the text), a water stain in the outer margin of p. 40. Otherwise in good condition. Brunet V, 1485; Cicognara 4083; Haskell, Painters and Patrons, pp. 368-372; OPAC SBN PUVE005263; Schlosser p. 488 and p. 500; WorldCat 1478692480, 504225182, 1008463139 (3 copies).