Raccolta di Varie Canzoni Sopra Diversi Leggiardri Soggitti a Sua Eccellenza Myledy Walpole.
Firenze: Nella Stamperia di Francesco Moücke, 1739. Item #1405 8vo. 160 x 100mm., [6 ¼ x 4 inches]. 128 pp. Illustrated with one plate by Carl L. Gregory after M. Tuscher, occasional woodcut head- and tailpieces and historiated initials, and numerous pages of printed music. Bound in original drab wrappers, slightly worn, corners of wrapper and some pages curled at the outer margins; loosely sewn into binding, final signature partially detached; wrapper a bit soiled, but with faults a crisp, wide-margined copy. First and only edition. Contains numerous poems in Italian and Greek and six songs with unfigured bass lines. Included are two works by Giuseppe Maria Orlandini (1676-1760), two works by Carlo Arrigoni (1697-1744), and one work each by Francesco Maria Veracini (1690-1768) and Abate Raniero Caponi. These composers, all of whom are well known to the canon of 18th century Italian musicology, were not only writers, but singers, musicians, and entertainers, who performed with Handel, and were part of the London musical scene during the second quarter of the 18th century. The printing of this volume suggests that it was printed for choral groups and not for public distribution. The text and the musical notes are printed in letterpress and to my eye very beautifully but economically produced.
ICCU (Italian Union Catalogue) cites three edition, 1739, 1740 and 1744, each with a different dedicatee. All editions appear to be rare, and although there are a few copies of each edition cited by OCLC, there are no copies cited from libraries in the USA. See RISM Recueils II, p. 298 for a citation on this work. See also John Walter Hill and Francesco Giuntini in Grove Music Online, for biographical information on these six composers.
Price: $1,750.00