Blue paper in the Kingdom of Sardinia

In applauso al gloriosissimo governo di S. E. il signor Marchese D. Giuseppe Vincenzo Lascaris di Vintimiglia Vicere di Sardegna. Cagliari, Stamperia Reale, 1780.

8° (191x126 mm). Printed on Pale blue PaPer. [6], XXV [i.e., XXVI], [2] pages. Engraved vignette on the title-page, showing the arms of the Kingdom of Sardinia, and signed by Domenico Cagnoni (d. 1797); engraved vignette on the recto of page [3], opening the text, and featuring the coat of arms of the dedicatee Giuseppe Vincenzo Lascaris. Small tailpiece on page [6], showing the Savoyard arms. Modern soft boards. A good copy, a few minor stains; the second quire discoloured. The rear flyleaf cut away.

Provenance: ownership inscription ‘Sanna’, and the date ‘1793’ in ink and red pencil on the rear pastedown; another mark of provenance ‘Gioachino Pons e Cardona Cagliari li 18. Magio di 1795.’ inked on the verso of the front flyleaf.

Collection of poems composed by various authors in homage to the Savoyard Viceroy of Sardinia Giuseppe-Vincenzo-Francesco- Maria Lascaris (1729-1793), marchese della Rocchetta. The publication was edited by Marquis Francesco Maria Pilo Boyl, who designated himself the ‘Raccoglitore’, i.e., ‘The Gatherer’ or ‘The Collector’, and was also responsible for the preliminary address in verse to Lascaris.

The booklet was issued on pale blue paper from the Stamperia Reale, established in Cagliari in 1769 by Carlo Emanuele III, Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia; the latter had entrusted its direction to Bonaventura Porro, who was already active at the Royal Press in Turin.

M.G. Sanjust, “La politica culturale e l’attività della Stamperia reale di Cagliari dal 1770 al 1799”, Dal trono all’albero della libertà. Trasformazioni e continuità istituzionali nei territori del Regno di Sardegna, Roma 1991, ii, pp. 651-669.