1792 ❧ GUARANA, JACOPO (1720-1808) Oracoli, auguri, aruspici, sibille, indovini della religione pagana tratti da antichissimi monumenti, o sulle traccie della storia. Venice: [No publisher / s.e.], 1792. Folio (466 x 335 mm). Engraved throughout. Complete with engraved allegorical frontispiece, engraved title-page within an elaborate phytomorphic border, 2 leaves of engraved introduction, and 41 fine copperplate engravings of mythological figures, each accompanied by a facing leaf of descriptive, engraved text (totaling 41 text leaves), all printed on one side only and enclosed within highly detailed decorative borders. Light toning and soiling primarily to margins. Original contemporary Italian temporary paper-covered boards (cartonnage), some fraying at spine. Housed in a fine clamshell box. FIRST EDITION, A SUPERB, WHOLLY ENGRAVED NEOCLASSICAL WORK IN ITS ORIGINAL CARTONNAGE. This suite of plates illustrates the complex divinatory systems, sibyls, and seers of ancient paganism. The entire production was designed by the celebrated late-Baroque and Neoclassical Venetian painter Jacopo Guarana (1720-1808). A prominent student of Sebastiano Ricci and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Guarana was one of the last major masters of the classical Venetian school. The masterfully executed plates were brought to life by the finest Venetian copperplate printmakers of the late 18th century, including A. Povelato, A. Sandi, and V. Giaconi. Each plate is set against a deeply intricate chalcographic framework, offering an elegant example of Venetian book arts just prior to the fall of the Republic. Cicognara 4711 (erroneously calling for only 30 plates); Morazzoni 236. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing