ROME GUIDEBOOK.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Mirabilia Romae. A rare incunable edition of the earliest European printed guidebook, a geographically arranged inventory of the "unmissable" monuments and sites of Rome. This copy was handsomely bound in green morocco for the library of Prince Ferdinando of Savoy, first duke of Genoa, with his coat of arms and initials in gilt on the covers.Dubbed by PMM the "Renaissance Baedecker", Mirabilia Romae ("The marvels of Rome") was composed about 1140-50 by an anonymous writer - sometimes identified as Benedict, Canon of St Peter's - as a guide for the pilgrims to the city. First printed in the early 1470s, it was reprinted multiple times over the following century, and translated into Italian, English, Spanish, and German. The great popularity of this work during the Renaissance illustrates a new awareness of the significance of ancient Roman remains and "was instrumental in preserving some of them. The Memorabilia is a valuable source for our knowledge of what remained and attracted notice in medieval Rome. One of its pleasant side-effects was the beginning of measures for the 'protection of ancient monuments' - such as Trajan's column - as the Roman authorities realized their importance for tourism" (PMM)."The author of the Mirabilia concentrates attention on ancient Rome; churches serve only to locate the presumed site of an ancient building or sanctuary. Thus he leads a systematic tour through the ancient city, always focusing on the monuments; their identification from liter

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