renaissance

Les Arts au Moyen Age et a l'Epoque de la Renaissance (The Arts in the Middle Ages and in the Renaissance) features chromolithographic plates and over 400 woodcuts. What truly makes this edition stand out is its elaborate use of gilt stamping. The red book cover is dotted and outlined with gold script, matching the bow-like design on the spine. Instead of the typical marbled paper, the book's inside covers feature a zig-zag pattern of black and gold lines, with designs of flowers, tassels, and letters in contrasting colors.

Italian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) created detailed and elaborate etchings illustrating the antiquities of Rome as well as a fictitious and atmospheric series entitled Carceri d'invenzione (Imaginary Prisons). The Smithsonian Libraries is fortunate to own several first-editions of Piranesi’s publications, including his book on fireplaces and mantels entitled Diversi Maniere d'Adornare i Cammini and “vedute” or views of Rome, an example of which is this 1761 folio.

Charles-Antoine Jombert (1712–1784) was a French bookseller and publisher descended from a dynasty of booksellers. This book serves as a manual on techniques for figure drawing, featuring over 100 copper engravings representing different parts of the human anatomy. Some plates are based on original designs done by masters such as Titian and Raphael with various tips for mastering drawings such as anatomical proportions, academic scenes, and landscapes.

The Book of the Art of Cennino Cennini is an English translated book from Italian, first published in 1859. The artist, Cennino Cennini, was an Italian painter born around 1360 and died before 1427. He trained under Agnolo Gaddi, and worked in Padua, at the court of Francesco Novello da Carrara. This book is an English translation of Cennino Cennini’s most notable publication, Il Libro Dell'Arte, with an introduction and commentary by celebrated British artist (and art patron), Christiana J. Herringham.

"Music is my mistress, and she plays second fiddle to no one." Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington is an American jazz legend – a talented pianist, a composer of over 1,000 songs, and a bandleader who gained national attention through his orchestra’s appearances at the famed Cotton Club in Harlem. In this book, Ellington tells the stories of his life and career. He describes growing up in Washington, D.C. in the early 1900s, when he dreamed of playing baseball, not the piano. He shares photographs of his beloved parents and other family members and friends who influenced him.