HOUËL (Jean). Voyage pittoresque des isles de Sicile, de Malte et de Lipari... Paris, Imprimerie de Monsieur, 1782-1787. 4 vol. in-folio bound in full midnight blue long-grained morocco, gilt decorated ribbed spines, wide gilt Greek roulette framing the boards with the gilt arms of the Stroganov family in the centre, gilt fillet to the edges, gilt roulette inside, gilt edges (period binding). Vol.1: VIII, 140 pp (noted 138), Vol.2: [2] ff, 148 pp, Vol.3: [2] ff, 126 pp, Vol.4: [2] ff, 124 pp. Adorned with a rich iconographic programme printed in bistre in the wash style comprising 264 captioned and numbered plates from nature engraved by the author. During his time as a boarder at the Académie française in Rome, the painter and engraver Jean Houël embarked on his first major tour of Italy in the company of the Marquis d'Havrincourt between 1769 and 1772. He was so enthusiastic about the trip that he decided to embark on a new journey between the Kingdom of Naples, Sicily and the islands of Malta and Lipari in 1776. It was at the end of this second trip that he composed his masterpiece, writing the explanations for the engraved plates himself, based on his own sketches. A remarkable copy, both for its prestigious provenance and its very good condition. Ex-libris of Count Grigori Alexandrovitch Stroganov (1823-1878), with the stamp on the title page of the library of the Imperial University of Siberia in Tomsk, which was largely created thanks to the donation by Grigori Stroganov in 1875 of the 22,000 volumes in his library and that of his grandfather. Very good condition Binding : Slight sunning of the spines which show a small loss of pigmentation. Some very superficial rubbing and epidermis on the edges and the spine ends. Leather slightly cracked at the spine ends Vol.2: slight whitish mark on the upper cover and the arms on the upper cover repeated twice Vol.3 and 4: small indentations of the leather on the lower boards of less than one cm, the one on vol.4 a little more important taken up in a blue patina Vol.3: slight and very superficial scratches on the boards Inside pages : many pages and plates probably washed Qlqs light foxing and scattered spotting on ff. and plates Several small soiling marks Slight oxidation of the ff. sometimes more pronounced at their edges, some plates a little oxidized Vol.1: plate 6, tear of approx. 4 cm not missing, which seems to date from the printing due to a weakness in the sheet of paper Vol.2: plate of the first Ecueil des Cyclopes shows some wet spots, partly damaging the illustration Collaton of plates per vol. : Vol.1: VIII, 140 pp. (noted 138) 72 plates Vol.2 : [2] ff, 148 pp. 72 plates Vol.3 : [2] ff. 126 pp. 60 plates Vol.4 : [2] ff. 124 pp. 60 plates