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Preview and Pick up at: 27294 Fraser Hwy, Aldergrove, BC V4W 3P8
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Group of five Italian-language hardcover books spanning literature, classical studies, religion, exploration and Tuscan proverbs. Highlights include Ardito Desio's La conquista del K2, a Garzanti first edition dated December 1954, numbered 0002 and signed; Giuseppe Giusti's Raccolta di proverbi toscani, second impression published in Florence by Successori Le Monnier in 1886; and Giovanni Decia's Letture greche, published by Felice Le Monnier in 1969. The group also includes Molière's Le furberie di Scappino, with notes and introduction by Vittoria Bonaiuti Tarquini and ten illustrations, and Volume I of La Sacra Bibbia: Il Vecchio Testamento, covering Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus, with commentary by Marco M. Sales and the Italian translation of Antonio Martini. The books have varied blue, burgundy, black and cream bindings with gilt spine lettering and decoration.
ARTIST / CREATOR BIOGRAPHY
Ardito Desio (1897-2001) was an Italian geologist, geographer, explorer and author whose career joined scientific inquiry with the romance and hardship of remote travel. Born in the fortified Friulian town of Palmanova, he served during the First World War and later studied natural sciences at the University of Florence, graduating in 1920. Desio established his academic career in Milan, working at the city's natural history museum before becoming a professor of geology. His research carried him through the Alps, the Aegean islands, North and East Africa, Iran, the Himalaya and the Karakoram. Across decades of fieldwork, he contributed to geology, paleontology, physical geography, glaciology and the practical study of natural resources. He is best remembered for directing the 1954 Italian expedition to K2. On July 31, Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli reached the summit, completing the mountain's first successful ascent. Desio recorded the expedition in La conquista del K2, published that same year, combining its mountaineering narrative with the scientific purpose that underlay the undertaking. His exploratory life continued well beyond K2, including work connected with Antarctica and renewed high-altitude research. Desio's long career made him an enduring figure in Italian earth science and exploration, distinguished by a persistent belief that mountains were not merely obstacles to conquer, but landscapes to measure, understand and document.
BOOK INVENTORY
Ardito Desio, La conquista del K2: Seconda cima del mondo, Garzanti, first edition, December 1954; numbered 0002 and signed; illustrated with photographs, maps and sketches.
Giuseppe Giusti, Raccolta di proverbi toscani, enlarged from the author's collection and published by Gino Capponi; second impression, Successori Le Monnier, Florence, 1886.
Molière, Le furberie di Scappino, translated with notes and introduction by Vittoria Bonaiuti Tarquini; G. C. Sansoni, Florence; new printing with ten illustrations.
Giovanni Decia, Letture greche per il ginnasio superiore, edited by Ugo Enrico Paoli; revised edition with vocabulary, Felice Le Monnier, Florence, 1969.
La Sacra Bibbia: Il Vecchio Testamento, Volume I-Genesi, Esodo, Levitico, commentary by Marco M. Sales, with the Vulgate and Italian translation by Antonio Martini; Turin, L.I.C.E. and Tipografia Pontificia.
Inventory is a best-effort identification of the lot contents and may not be complete or exact.
Quantity: 5 books
Language: Italian
Signed & Numbered: Ardito Desio, La conquista del K2, No. 0002
Publication Range: 1886-1969 among dated volumes
Condition: As pictured.
Auction Location:
27294 Fraser Hwy., Aldergrove, British Columbia, V4W 3P8, Canada
Previewing Details:
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Previewing Address: 27294 Fraser Hwy, Aldergrove, BC V4W 3P8
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| GST |
5% |
GST |
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5% |
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5% |
Saskatchewan |
| YK |
5% |
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Infinite |
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