Voyage d’un Francais en Italie. ( Voyage en Italie ) ATLAS VOLUME ONLY.

Geneva, ca. 1769-1790. (We are unable to determine which of the first three editions this Atlas Volume is from.) Contemporary gilt-decorated half-leather and marbled boards; marbled edges. This Atlas Volume consists of 36 engraved plates, comprising 35 city plans, most double-spreads, and some vedute; plus frontispiece engraved folding map of Italy (the Papal States). Leather dried and rubbed, with a patch peeling off near foot of spine and small chip to head; spine gilt mostly faded; wear to board extremities, especially lower front corner; very small ink stain to fore-edge, occasionally just penetrating margin without affecting engraving; book pocket on rear pastedown (for what reason we can’t fathom), and a couple of minor holes in rear fly-leaf; but interior otherwise clean & bright, with a remarkable absence of foxing, except faintly to margins of last plate. The work stems from Lalande’s trip to Italy, on which occasion he petitioned the Pope remove the works of Copernicus and Galileo from the Index of forbidden books.THIS ATLAS VOLUME IS THE ONE USUALLY MISSING FROM COMPLETE SETS OF LALANDE’S MULTI-VOLUME WORK.