112
Ercolano - Venuti, Marcello de
Description of the first discoveries of the ancient city of Herculaneum, 1748
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€ 400 - 600
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Rome, Stamperia del Bernabò, et Lazzarini, 1748. 4°. Typographical decoration on the title page, headpieces, and initials, original hardback. Rappaport bookshop label in Rome on the pastedown. A splendid copy, fresh and genuine.
Specialist Notes
ONE OF THE FIRST BOOKS ON THE EXCAVATIONS OF HERCULANEUM.
In 1748, the first discoveries at Herculaneum, during the Bourbon excavations, were documented by Marcello de Venuti, a scholar working at the court of Charles of Bourbon. Venuti, who was curating the Farnese library and gallery, realized that the artifacts discovered, including statues, marbles, and inscriptions, came from the theater and not from a temple of Hercules, as initially assumed. Thus, while taking part in the first archaeological surveys, Venuti had the unexpected fortune of stumbled upon an epigraph that, without a shadow of a doubt, came from the ancient theater of Herculaneum. Based on this inscription, he was the first to realize that those excavations were unearthing the ancient city of Herculaneum . Ten years after its discovery, Venuti published the present Descrizione delle primi scopri della città di Ercolano in Rome in 1748. The volume offers one of the first official reports on the excavations of Herculaneum. The work is divided into two parts. In the first, he explores the history of the city's founding, delves into the site's geography and orography, and also explores volcanology, describing the eruption of Vesuvius from a scientific perspective. This first part reflects a somewhat encyclopedic approach. In the second part, he reviews the antiquities discovered since the first excavations.
In 1748, the first discoveries at Herculaneum, during the Bourbon excavations, were documented by Marcello de Venuti, a scholar working at the court of Charles of Bourbon. Venuti, who was curating the Farnese library and gallery, realized that the artifacts discovered, including statues, marbles, and inscriptions, came from the theater and not from a temple of Hercules, as initially assumed. Thus, while taking part in the first archaeological surveys, Venuti had the unexpected fortune of stumbled upon an epigraph that, without a shadow of a doubt, came from the ancient theater of Herculaneum. Based on this inscription, he was the first to realize that those excavations were unearthing the ancient city of Herculaneum . Ten years after its discovery, Venuti published the present Descrizione delle primi scopri della città di Ercolano in Rome in 1748. The volume offers one of the first official reports on the excavations of Herculaneum. The work is divided into two parts. In the first, he explores the history of the city's founding, delves into the site's geography and orography, and also explores volcanology, describing the eruption of Vesuvius from a scientific perspective. This first part reflects a somewhat encyclopedic approach. In the second part, he reviews the antiquities discovered since the first excavations.
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