Trattato di calligrafia e raccolta di caratteri diversi istoriati fiorati ed a rilievo adorni de cifre, noti, arabeschi e simboli

Naples: Stamperia e Cartiere del Fibreno, 1858. Large folio.  530 x 350 mm., [21 x 14 inches].  12pp. text and 30 full-page engraved plates.  Bound in recent half calf and corners, marbled paper boards, with original brown printed wrappers bound-in; some minor foxing to the paper stock but a very well preserved copy of a rare calligraphy book. 
First edition.  Little is known of the designer of this gargantuan calligraphic masterpiece, other than he was a on the faculty Royal Naval Academy and a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Sicily.  In 1852 he published another large folio work entitled Grand album di (truncated) calligrafia, containing 100 plates. 
His 1858 Trattato di calligrafia is a manual describing techniques for creative calligraphic design which reflect 19th century taste.  He rejects the flourishes and ornamentation of traditional letter forms and focuses on highly detailed and complex designs that reflect a robust and bold form that is facilitated by advanced engraving and printing techniques.  The printers and stationers Fibreno has enhanced the impact of Palermo’s design by using high quality paper to capture the large letter forms expertly transferred to the metal plate.  The plates were engraved by Giuseppe Barone, Ricci, Vastola, Crispino, Filippo Morghen, and Elio. Pagliara for Fibreno.
Rare:  OCLC cites only two copies of the 1858 Trattato di calligrafia, one in Mainz and the other at the American Academy of Rome.  Not in Harvard, although they do have a copy of the 1852 Grand album di calligrafia.   NUC adds an incomplete copy at the Newberry and one in the collections of Oberlin College. (Inventory #: 1357)