Catalogue des Livres Rares et Précieux composant la Bibliothèque de M. E.-F.-D. Ruggieri

Paris, 1873; reprint Martino 1998. Hard Cover. xi, 277, 129 pages; 22 cm. The Ruggieri brothers of Bologna were considered among the most proficient and expert practitioners of the art of pyrotechnics of the 18th and 19th centuries. Throughout the 18th century they were responsible for the most elaborate and innovative displays of fireworks and were official court pyrotechnicians to the French Crown, illuminating many state occasions, weddings, births, coronations and funerals. The Ruggieris assembled perhaps the finest collection of fête books ever seen. Over 1500 books were included in the auction here catalogued. The Ruggieri catalog is important because no standard or complete bibliography of festival books exists. Until now even the Ruggieri has been difficult to use. Now a reprint edition is available in which every book is indexed -- including lots with multiple volumes bound in. The 129-page index provides author (some effort was made to more precisely identify authors) and title entries, cities, year of publication, artists, engravers and printers. The index, by Penelope Hough of The Owl at the Bridge, is a work of dedication which makes the contents of the Ruggieri catalog available in a way they have never been before. Stock#40490. Cloth; new from publisher; signed on request by indexer.