Vincenzo CORONELLI

Armi, ò Blasoni dei Patritii Veneti, co'nomi di quelli, che per l'età si trovano capaci all'ingresso del Serenissimo Maggio Consiglio nell'Anno corrente.  [16]; 48; 544 pp.  Illustrated with a full-page engraved plate of a winged lion representing the Venetian Republic, and 924 armorial shields on 110 full-page engraved plates.  32mo., 100 x 72 mm, bound in contemporary vellum, manuscript label on the spine.  Venetia: Appresso Francesco Busetto à S. Lio, 1694.

First Edition of this indispensable record of nearly 220 patrician families living in Venice in 1694, listed alphabetically from Acquisti to Zusto, and illustrated with hundreds of corresponding crests.  Based on the Libro d'Oro started in 1506 and preserved in the Archivio di Stato dei Frari, this pocket-sized reference book not only documents the names, birthdays, and marriage dates of contemporary Venetian nobility, but also presents a calendar for the year 1694; a census of births and deaths for men, women, and children in various hospitals between 1678 and 1692; a list of procuratori of S. Marco; a list of nobles elected and "defunct" that year; a list of extinct patrician lines; a list of cardinals and other prelates; and even a list of collection times and locations for the post.

A list of patrician Venetian families was published in 1603, however Coronelli's is the first in nearly a century, and the prototype of Libri d'Oro to follow.  Many of this genealogical genre were burned in Piazza San Marco on June 4, 1797, by commoners incited by the French.

Franciscan monk Vincenzo Coronelli (1650-1718) was a prolific cartographer, geographer, biographer, encyclopedia author, and engineer, most famous for his globes. 

A genuine rarity with just one copy in the US at the Morgan and spotty auction records of incomplete later editions.  A waterstain mars the title and following leaf, the last leaf darkened, the binding with some stains and the head and tail of the spine worn, however, an very good unsophisticated copy. 

Armao I, 10 (p. 53).  Cicogna, p. 317, n. 2228.