Extremely rare publication on one of the most important centres of German-Italian cultural exchange in the 19th Century.

This set of views shows the magnificent country estate of the Mylius family near the village Loveno on Lake Como, which was bought by banker and art patron Heinrich Mylius (1769-1854) as a gift for his son Julius in 1829. The following year Julius died at the age of 30, shortly after his marriage with the Milanese aristocrat's daughter Luigia Vitali, and the estate was converted into a memorial. It is now open to the public as the museum Villa Vigoni.

Born in Frankfurt, Heinrich Mylius is remembered in Germany and Northern Italy as one of Milan's most prominent industrialists. Mylius developed strong ties with important European literary and artistic figures of his time. He was a close friend of Johann Wolfgang Goethe, the artist Bertel Thorvaldsen, the writer Alessandro Manzoni and the philosopher Carlo Cattaneo amongst others. After his son's death, Villa Mylius became the centre of the family's philanthropic activities and the fulcrum of cultural exchanges between Italy and the Central European region.

Testament to this notion of cultural dialogue between northern and southern Europe are many of the works in the Villa which were commissioned from artists who were either friends or acquaintances of the family. Notably, the bas-reliefs from the funerary chapel of Julius Mylius which appear in the first five plates.

The text accompanying the plates was compiled by the illustrious naturalist, explorer, numismatist and close friend of the Mylius family Eduard Rüppell (1794-1884), known in particular for his travels around Egypt, Nubia and Abyssinia.

Today the work offers an insight not only into the world of the Mylius family, but also into the feverish intellectual and artistic landscape of Germany and Italy in the years that preceded the unification of Italy in 1861.

Two volumes, atlas folio (48 x 34,5 cm) and text 4to (29 x 20 cm) in 1. Atlas: lithographed title, 16 plates, including one folding; text 13, 5 pp.; light occasional spotting to plates. Original cloth and wrappers, upper wrapper watermarked "Fco VeSe" and double headed eagle coat of arms, lower wrapper watermarked with crescent moon; a bit faded, light spotting, very small worming to spine.