Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 3.djvu/92

 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. HI. FEB. 3, 1917.

churches to which the earlier part of Book II. is devoted. The author seems to have been susceptible to the beauties of the surround- ing country, and describes with evident delight the charms of Posilipo, with its fish- ponds and its ruins, where in the year 1684, as he tells us, he had composed his guide- book at the suggestion of his friends. Mer- ge lina, where Sannazzaro resided, and which he called " un pezzo di cielo caduta in terra," is described next. Here was the residence at that time of the Spanish Vice- roy, Don Gaspar de Haro y Gusman, who had earned the gratitude of the people by -clearing the surrounding country of brigands. The author then describes the tomb of Virgil, the Riviera di Chiaia, the Poggio Reale, and the Royal Palace, followed by an account of Vesuvius. No directions are given to the traveller as to how best to climb the mountain, but the inscription recording the memorable eruption of 1630 is given at length, with a spirited engraving showing a tutor or governor pointing out the pillar with the inscription to his pupil while Vesuvius smokes in the distance. The rest of the book is taken up with an account of the libraries, public and private, a short review of the Kingdom of Naples in the form of a gazetteer, an alphabetical list of the churches, and a full index.

The book, as perhaps might be expected, is somewhat overloaded with ecclesiastical details, but it is nevertheless a handy, well- printed little volume, obviously written for the cultured traveller. It is furnished with a number of engravings. My copy of the 1697 edition has forty- three plates, but "they are mostly representations of the interiors of churches. An excellent folding plan of Naples is added. The engravings 'were executed at the cost of Bulifon, who tells us that he spared no expense over them, and each plate bears a graceful little note of dedication to various illustrious Neapoli- tans, ecclesiastical as well as lay. Some editions have an engraved frontispiece show- ing the Porta Capuana with a horseman and foot passenger passing through it, while above them Mercury flies across the picture bearing a scroll, on which is inscribed the title of the book. Below is the Bishop's coat of arms. The first edition of the book has a few woodcuts in the text in addition to the engraved plates, and the three books -re here divided into chapters, viz., Book I., 9 chapters ; Book II., 25 chapters ; and Book III., 10 chapters.

In the edition of 1782 (described as " Nuova ed ampliata") Sarnelli's name

still appears on the title-page, but Bulifon drops out. The arrangement of the book is the same, but the fine engravings of the earlier editions are replaced by much coarser plates (including a large folding view of Mount Vesuvius), which in some instances appear to have been badly copied from the originals or re-engraved on the worn-out plates. There is no introductory matter at all, but the book shows signs of having been brought up to date. The 1788 edition has a fresh title-page from which Sarnelli's name has disappeared, and the book is entirely rearranged. There are now nineteen separate chapters, and the engrav- ings are of the same quality as in the 1782 edition. This edition closes with a list of works relating to the Kingdom and City of Naples and the surrounding districts.

II. The guide to Pozzuoli is a much less ambitious affair. The first edition only runs to 111 pages. Following the dedication is an epistle as in I., ' Antonio Bulifon al curioso Lettore.' The guide-book itself is divided into 23 chapters, dealing with Pozzuoli, the Lago di Agnana (including the Grotta del Cane), Solfatara, Monte Gauro (Barbaro), Averno,the Sibyl's Grotto, Tritoli, Baja, Miseno, Cuma, Literno, and the island of Nisida. It has a well-engraved frontispiece showing Pozzuoli, Miseno, and Cuma in the distance, with a number of sightseers in the foreground making pur- chases from natives. There is a woodcut showing Virgil's grave, and a fine folding map of the district, as well as eleven very small and not very well executed engravings of the more important places mentioned, printed upon paper much smaller than the book itself. The engraved surface of these plates measures only some 2 by 1J inches. There is a good index.

Considerable additions were made to the work in later editions. The third edition (1691) still has the engraved frontispiece, and contains a list of rules to be observed by bathers at Pozzuoli, and some further particulars concerning the baths. The en- gravings are very spirited and charming in this edition, particularly one of the Grotta del Cane at p. 14. In my copy of the 1782 edition, which is identical in every way with the fourth edition of 1770, Sarnelli's name still appears with that of Bulifon on the title-page, but the frontispiece and fine engravings have disappeared, and are re- placed by a number of ill-executed and worthless plates. According to the title- page, the work now professes to describe the islands of Procida and Capri, but the