Thesaurus gemmarum antiquarum astriferarum quae e compluribus dactyliothecis selestae aereis tabulis cc. Insculptae observationibus inlustrantur sdiectis parergis adiectis parergis LX atlante farnesiano prolrgomenis diatribis III disertationibus XV [.

Florence, Officina Albiziniana, 1750. Folio. Uniformly bound in three contemporary full calf bindings with five raised bands and richly gilt spines. Wear to extremities: boards with scratches and missing some of the leather. Upper compartment on vol. 3 missing leather and lower compartment on vol. 2 partly missing leather. Vague dampstain to margins, primarily in vol. 1 and 3, not affecting text or images. (Vol. 1:) XX, (16) pp + 200 numbered plates (184 and 185 on same leaf). (Vol. 2:) XIV, (2), 312, (18) pp. (Vol. 3:) VII, (1), 307 pp. + 8 plates (of which 7 folding). Numerous headpieces and tailpieces and a few initials, every page of the dedication within an engraved border. Complete. First edition of Gori’s large and lavishly illustrated work on classical cameos. Antonio Francesco was a Florentine antiquarian, a priest in minor orders, provost of the Baptistery of San Giovanni from 1746, and a professor at the Liceo, whose numerous publications of ancient Roman sculpture and antiquities formed part of the repertory on which 18th-century scholarship as well as the artistic movement of neoclassicism were based. In 1735 he was a founding member of a circle of antiquaries and connoisseurs in Florence called the Societa Colombaria, the predecessor of the Accademia Toscana di Scienze e Lettere la Colombaria. He was an international authority on Etruscan history and art and renowned expert in cameos and ancient stones. Cicognara 2869 Graesse III, p.120