Handbook of Engraved Gems

Zazoff, Peter. DIE ANTIKEN GEMMEN. München: C.H. Beck’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1983. 8vo, original black cloth, gilt; jacket. li, (1), 446 pages; 132 halftone plates. Fine. A highly useful handbook by the author of the Antike Gemmen in deutschen Sammlungen series and (with Hilde Zazoff) Gemmensammler und Gemmenforscher. Sinkankas 7516: “The text is preceded by a condensed survey of previous investigations into the subject of engraved gems with Zazoff noting early developments during the Renaissance and that treatises were already being published in the 16th century, eg, Fulvio Orsini, Imagines et Elogia Virorum Illustrium, 1570. Collectors & connoisseurs of engraved gems are carefully traced from this earliest period, as well as the published works, into the modern era, with use of selected illustrations taken from same. A considerable number of engraved gem treatises were published after WW II, especially from the mid 1950’s, and Zazoff pays close attention to them.”