ORTOLANI, Giuseppe Emanuele (1758-1828). Biography of the illustrious men of Sicily. Naples: Nicola Gervasi, 1817-1821. First edition of the largest biographical collection dedicated to the protagonists of Sicilian history and culture. The work collects the lives of illustrious Sicilians - sovereigns, men of state, ecclesiastics, writers, scientists, artists and soldiers - each accompanied by the relative calcographic portrait, engraved by Raffaello Morghen (1758-1833), Giuseppe Biondi (1778-1852) and other engravers of the time. Publishable and without continuous pagination, the work presents a number of biographies varying from specimen to specimen, until 193 recorded in OPAC; this copy includes 176 lives, each accompanied by its portrait engraved out of text. 4 volumes, 4to (250 × 190 mm). Calcographic frontispieces for each volume, 176 calcographic portraits to accompany each biography (flowers). 19th century bonding in half leather with gold decorations and titles on the back, plates in percallina (light defects). (4)