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Hard cover, 8vo, in green cloth, each decorated with the design of four heraldic shields of cities contained in the two volumes, blocked in gold and green, and with titles to the spine. Title pages are in black and red. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed, the work printed upon laid paper. Copyright 1900. Printed by University Press, John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. In English. VOL. 1: vi, [erratta insert] 296,[4] pp. VOL 2: vi, [erratta insert], 310, plus 1 pg. publisher's ads, [3] pp. **CONDITION: Near Fine. Clean, firm, bright. One minute spot to front board Vol. 2, (otherwise fine.) Lacking dustjackets. **The authors give their personal impressions of these Italian cities, with reference to political rivalries and foreign incursions through the ages as indicative of regional character. The artists Correggio, Perugino, Raphael, Brunelleschi, Giotto, Dante and Mantegna receive special art historical attention, as does the art of fresco and mosaic. Not really a travelogue, although they mention rail travel, nor a catalogue of specific sites to visit and how to get there. This is very much more so an impressionistic appreciation of places the authors must have spent a great deal of time in, pursuing their art, and in observation of changes brought by, for instance the late nineteenth century attempts at urban renewal and sanification to the city centers. Chapters cover Ravenna, Siena, Parma, Perugia, Cortona, Spoleto, Assisi, Raphael in Rome, Florentine Sketches, and Mantua. **AUTHOR Edward Howland Blashfield, (1848-1936) was a celebrated muralist of the classic tradition in the period before the First World War, whose work included decoration of the Library of Congress. Born in New York, he attended Harvard and MIT as an engineering student, before being recognized for his artistic skills. He studied art in Paris, returned to the United States and won a commission to paint a mural at the World's Columbian Exposition, which led to further public and private commissions. His wife, Evangeline Wilbour Blashfield (1881-1918), the Rhode Island-born daughter of a noted Egyptologist, spent time living abroad before her marriage in 1881. She wrote, or co-wrote with her husband, several books on art topics. The couple lived abroad for fifteen years after their marriage. (from American Art News, Nov. 23, 1918.) An interesting read.
Ref: ADV 9247
$60.00