[SAINT-NON (Richard de). Voyage pittoresque ou description des royaumes de Naples et de Sicile. Paris, s.n. [Clousier], 1781-1786. 5 volumes, large folio, marbled calf, triple gilt fillet, ornate spine, inner lace, gilt edges (period binding). First edition of one of the greatest French travel books of the eighteenth century. A friend of the Encyclopaedists, Abbé Jean-Claude Richard de Saint-Non (1727-1791) befriended Fragonard and Hubert Robert during a trip to Italy and became their patron and main sponsor. He travelled with them to Sicily and Naples and, on his return, set about publishing their account, a veritable encyclopaedic guide, accompanied by more than 500 plates and vignettes engraved from his own drawings, those of his two travelling companions, the painter Claude-Louis Châtelet and other artists. The result was "one of the most ambitious and successful of all travel books", according to Gordon N. Ray. Ray, a publication of unprecedented luxury that brought ruin to its author and publisher. Magnificent first edition illustrations, including 5 title vignettes, a dedication to Marie-Antoinette, 284 plates, 15 head vignettes, 96 culs-de-lampe in black or bistre, 6 maps, a plan, a plate of phalluses and 14 plates of medals, all drawn by the author, C.-L. Châtelet, P.-A. Paris, Després, H. Robert, Fragonard and other artists, and engraved by Fessard, Saint-Aubin, Choffard, Berthault, etc. A superb copy, complete with the phallus plate and 14 plates of medals of the cities of Sicily. Armorial bookplate 19th century. A cracked spine in volume III. Cohen, 928-930 - Ray, n°34 - Blackmer, n°1473 - Brunet, V, 55.