CHACÓN, Alfonso. Columnae Trajani ortographia centum trigintaquatuor aeneis tabulis insculpta utriusque belli dacici historiam continens.

Two volumes, folio (442×325mm). I: 12 pages, [4], 60 plates; II: 70 plates, in total of 134 double-page engraved plates. Title page printed on two sheets and with engraved view of the column. Bound in contemporary cat's paw calf with lettering pieces on spine, gilt decorations on spine and covers, speckled edges, marbled endpapers. From the library of the Venetian nobleman Francesco Rizzo Patarol (armorial ex-libris on paste-down). A very fine set.

A rare set of engravings illustrating the reliefs on Trajan's column; a total of 134 plates engraved by Francesco Villamena after drawings by Girolamo Muziano depicting the Roman monument in great detail. The first four plates show the plan and base of the column, while the remaining 130 plates provide a comprehensive reproduction of the reliefs. These are accompanied by commentary from Alfonso Chacón, a Spanish Dominican antiquarian, historian and theologian who died in Rome in 1599. Chacón used as the main source for his commentary the epitome of Dio Cassius's Roman history by the XI-century Byzantine monk Joannes Xiphilinus. The 30-metre-tall column was ordered by Roman Emperor Trajan (98–117 AD) to celebrate his military conquest of Dacia. It was a part of a grandiose monumental complex, Trajan's Forum, designed by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus and completed in 113 AD. Rome's victory is depicted on the reliefs of the column, which at the time stood in the centre of a courtyard between two libraries: the historiated frieze, winding over the entire shaft of the column, tells a continuous narration of the two Dacian campaigns, covering a total length of approximately 200 metres. However, the height of the column prevented a thorough understanding of the monument. Girolamo Muziano began his study of Trajan's column in 1569, when he was granted the privilege of drawing, engraving and selling the scenes from the reliefs by Cardinal Michele Bonelli. He thus set up a company to produce a volume of engravings: the first edition of his illustrations was finally printed in 1576 by Francesco Zanetti and Bartolomeo Tosi, with a dedication to Philip II of Spain. The present copy is a seventh edition, out of the seven that appeared between the XVI and the XVIII centuries. Most of these do not include the engravings, merely publishing Chacón's text. While this edition's engravings are the same as those in the first edition, most plates here are accompanied by a brief caption in Italian.

Rossetti II, 1890; Bastianetto, Barbara. "Le incisioni e i disegni della Historia utriusque belli dacici di Muziano-Ciacconio: nuovi documenti."In Tra Damasco e Roma. L'architettura di Apollodoro nella cultura classica, edited by Fiorella Festa Farina et al., 216–221. Rome: «L'Erma» di Bretschneider, 2001; Tocino Fernández, Marìa S. "La Historia utriusque belli dacici a traiano caesare gesti ex simulachris quae in columna eiusdem romae visuntur collecta de Alfonso Chacón. Estudio introductorio, edición crítica, traducción anotada e índices" (PhD diss., University of Cádiz, 2023).