FAMIN, Stanislas Marie César.

Lot 1050
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1000 - 1500 EUR
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FAMIN, Stanislas Marie César.
Erotic paintings, bronzes and statues, forming the collection of the secret cabinet of the Royal Museum of Naples, with their explanation. Paris, Evrat, 1832. In-folio (308 x 237 mm) of 2 ff.n.ch., 113 pp., 1 f.n.ch., 41 line engraved plates; red half-basane, smooth spine decorated (late 19th century binding). Original edition. Famin (1799-1853), historian and diplomat, was chancellor of various diplomatic missions in Italy, Sicily, Portugal and Russia. This classic curiosa describes the objects in the secret cabinet of the king of Naples, an unprecedented collection of erotic antiquities, most of which come from the excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum. Approximately half of the plates describe sculptures, the other half consists of erotic scenes with gods or couples, not always without humour. "The cabinet of the King of Naples is the only gallery in the world where all the shameless masterpieces have been proposed to be brought together. The book that reproduces them is the indispensable complement to all museum collections, and must find its place in a secret corner of the library of the artist and the amateur" (Gay & Lemmonyer). The 41 plates were line engraved by Larée, "printed on thicker, slightly tinted vellum" (Pia). César Famin" took advantage of his stay as chancellor of the French consulate in Naples to take an interest in the Royal Museum, organised around the Farnese collection and enriched with finds from the Pompeii excavations. Since 1819 this museum had had a cabinet of obscene objects (...) which was only accessible with the King's permission. This secret cabinet was closed in 1849, the collections walled up, then relegated by the curator to a damp and remote place; reopened in 1860 by order of Garibaldi, it was the subject of a first official catalogue (not illustrated) in 1866" (Raymond-Josué Seckel). Large-margined copy, a few freckles; lightly rubbed binding. Pia, Enfer, col. 1108.
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