The Three Books of the Potter's Art

1980, a facsimile edition of Cipriano Piccolpasso's I Tre Libri Dell'Arte Del Vasaio

Author

Cipriano Piccolpasso, translated and introduced by Ronald Lightbown and Alan Caiger-Smith

Publisher

Scolar Press, London, 1980

Printing Details

First edition thus. Hardback, quarter cloth with paper title labels to spine, paper covered boards, housed in a black card slipcase. 32 × 24.5. Vol 1: xl, [160], vol 2: xxiv, 122pp.

Full title: The Three Books of the Potter's Art / I Tre Libri Dell'Arte Del Vasaio. A Facsimile of the Manuscript in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Piccolpasso's treatise 'Li tre libri dell'arte del vasaio' (The three books of the potter's art) is an extremely important manuscript – the only one of its kind – that explains and illustrates the different stages in the making of maiolica ware in mid-16th-century Italy. The treatise is divided into three books. Ink drawings throughout illustrate the text with images of tools, kilns, processes, and craftsmen at work, while a final section shows different types of ornamental designs. Important sections in the text are marked with large initials that contain mythological or allegorical scenes and reflect the humanist education of the author.

The first volumes contains a lengthy introduction and the facsimile, the second volume the translation and notes.

Condition

This set is in very good condition. There is a little light wear to the slipcase, and a few small spots of foxing to the title labels but otherwise their condition is very clean and securely bound.