Franciscisci Blanchini Veronensis Utriusque Signaturæ Referendarii, & Prælati Domestici, de Tribus Generius Instrumentorum Musicæ Veterum Organicæ Dissertatio

Romæ, Impensis Fausti Amidei Bibliopolæ in via Cursus. Ex Typgraphia Bernabò, & Lazzarini, 1742. FIRST EDITION. Large 4to, xi [xii blank], 58, 8 full-page engraved plates of musical instruments, 5 engraved vignettes, contemporary vellum, with the armorial book plate of E. de Blavette on the front paste-down end-paper; fore-margins of first few leaves slightly frayed, slight wear to binding, but generally a very good copy. Francesco Bianchini [1662-1729] was librarian to Cardinal Ottoboni, later Pope Alexander VIII, in Rome. He seems to have been a much respected antiquary who enjoyed considerable Papal patronage. Bianchini's name is often spelled Blanchini, but it seems to be one and the same person. Graesse in his 'Supplement' of 1869 lists the work under Bianchini gives these as alternative spellings for the same person. [With thanks to John Wilbraham for this information.] This seems to be a work that Bianchini compiled as librarian, and it was not published in its lifetime. At the Wolffheim sale in 1928 - 1929, a copy sold for £100. Eitner II, 32. Wolffheim, I, 1126. Legacy of Sebastian Virdung (Grolier Club, 2005), no. 38.