Mining Library Treasures

The reasons for people visiting Rome are marked by diversity, just like the visitors themselves. Pilgrims hoped for salvation, scholars of different fields came to broaden their knowledge, merchants tried to explore new markets and many others, like artists, students, noblemen or even high-ranked churchmen were attracted by the remnants of antiquity and the places of Christian worship. In order not to get lost in the ancient streets of Rome, guidebooks showed travelers the right way (fig. 1). These books took you to the most important sights and often provided further information about art, illustrious people like emperors or other material of cultural-historical value. One of the most famous travel books is the so-called Mirabilia Urbis Romae from the twelfth century. This book stayed popular during the ages. Even the great renaissance architect Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) based the first of his two guidebooks titled L’antichità di Roma raccolta brevemente da gli auttori antichi, & moderni (1554) on the Mirabilia Urbis Romae.

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Different approaches to the classical combination of the old and new

Guidebooks like the one of Palladio that describe the old and the new Rome have been preserved in great numbers. One could assume that these books all contain the same information; after all the titles are quite similar to each other. Although that applies maybe for their size – many of these guidebooks are in octavo format – but definitely not when it comes to their content and the use of images. Some of them were made for the ‘common’ traveller, others for intellectuals and scholars. Erudite readers probably would have bought the Roma antica e moderna – guidebook that was published by Giordano Ziletti in 1558, dedicated to the nobleman Giulio Martinengo. The book starts with the old Rome told by Lucio Mauro. He describes famous places like the Forum Romanum or the Pantheon. Notes in the margins correct previous descriptions. The second part was written by a well – known Italian naturalist, named Ulisse Aldrovandi (1522 - 1605). For his Tutte le statue antiche, che in Roma in diversi luoghi (All the Roman statues that you can find in different places in Rome) he visited the houses, gardens and palaces of high – ranked Roman citizens in order to catalogue the ancient sculptures and statues. His book is still considered an extremely important work because of his documentary character in relation to provenance or collection research. He also added Roman customs and habits to his account.

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Ziletti’s guidebook has no illustrations or maps giving  the visitor a vivid picture of the old and the new Rome. Even Aldrovandi’s drawings of the artefacts were left out. Just some initials in both parts, made by the technique of woodcut, are visible. It is clear that this book was meant to be studied and read by intellectuals since the content was the focal point. ‘Common’ travellers certainly would appreciate some images. Especially, when they came from abroad and did not know much about Roman antiquity.

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During the next centuries Roma antica e moderna – guidebooks stayed popular. The second book that will be discussed dates from 1750. It was dedicated to cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga (1690-1756). He was like Martinengo a book – learned person, a collector of paintings and books. But this time, the layout contrasts in a striking way with Ziletti’s guidebook.

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Gregorio Roisecco, who owned a bookshop at the Piazza Navona, published in 1750 Roma antica e moderna. The story of the old and modern Rome is told in three parts which are divided into eight books (fig. 2). Especially, the first and second part are according to the title illustrated with more than 200 engravings (!) of ancient and contemporary buildings and artworks. The reader is taken to the different rioni (town districts) where he can admire the beauty and splendor of long gone but not forgotten remnants of the city (fig. 3). At the same time the traveller can stroll along the modern palaces and churches. Plus, every new part begins with a frontispiece. The last part of the book contains no illustrations. It informs the reader about the riti degli antichi romani (rites of the ancient Romans) like clothing or the Roman months. Besides that, it provides chronological charts of the Roman consuls, emperors and popes. Despite the soberness of the last book, it stands out from the rest due to its handwritten commentaries found in the last chart. An eager owner left his marks by writing with ink the dates when someone got elected as pope and from which family he came from. The overview ends with Pope Benedict XIV (1675 – 1658) but the owner added his successor Pope Clement XIII (1693 – 1769) who was head of the Catholic Church from 1758 to 1769 (fig. 4 ).

Erudite reader or ‘common’ traveller?

Roisecco’s guidebook is a different kind of a Roma antica e moderna – guidebook like we saw in Ziletti’s example. But for which target group was it made?

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Maybe in this case, the answer is not clear. One the one hand, the third part of the guidebook indicates that it was meant to be read by cultured and intellectual gentlemen. It gives the reader a little extra of information that the ‘common’ visitor did not necessarily needed. Through the Roman customs and the charts of emperors and popes the reader could gain a more profound knowledge of the Roman culture on his own.

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On the other hand, the engravings prove the touristic character, because the visitors were actually displayed. Page 520 (part one, volume three) shows different people in front of the Palazzo Panphili on Piazza Navona. Among them are two noblemen, a woman with a child, a man on crutches and, most interestingly, two Arabs (fig. 5). Furthermore, some of the engravings are tilted and others have a slightly sloping appearance. They seemed to be put under the press in a hasty way. Apparently, Roisecco’s Roma antica e moderna not only addressed an erudite readers audience, but was published in large numbers of copies.

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That Roisecco was quite familiar with the phenomena of guidebooks and their popularity can be illustrated by another example he published five years earlier.  This book can be considered as the predecessor of the edition from 1750. It has not only the exact same title but it has also other remarkable similarities with the later publication. The title page looks the same like in the book from 1750 but instead of the name of cardinal Valenti Gonzaga, one can read the name of cardinal  Alessandro Albani (1692 – 1779). All three parts begin with the same frontispieces, but with one little adjustment: the one from 1745 shows the coat of arms of Albani, the one from 1750 displays the coat of arms of Valenti Gonzaga. For the most part (at least) the content returns literally five years later, although the text arrangement is different. Further, the edition from 1750 has more engravings. The earlier mentioned image of the Arabs in front of Palazzo Panphili is absent in the guidebook from 1745. It is interesting to see that a lot of the images were reused and but the book from 1745 was printed by Giovanni Zempel and the one from 1750 by Ottavio Puccinelli.

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Other similar publications he sold at his bookshop and which describe the old and the new Rome were Roma ampliata, e rinovata, o sia Nuova descrizione della moderna citta di Roma (…) from 1725, Descrizione di Roma antica [-moderna] formata nuovamente (…) from 1739 and Roma ampliata, e rinovata o sia nuova descrizione dell'antica, e moderna città di Roma (…) from 1750. Apparently, Roisecco was quite successful in selling these types of guidebooks. Who knows how many copies he actually sold? To answer this question, further research will be required but one thing is certain: Rome was and it is still a tourist magnet for all kinds of visitors. These travellers still need guidebooks to lead them through the ancient and modern streets just like they did several hundred years ago.