1.07 Recupito 1670
Giulio Cesare Recupito, De Vesuviano incendio et de terræmotu Calabriæ nuntius, Rome 1670
Be 4015-2321/b raro IV
Published in Rome a few decades after the author’s death, this volume brings together two treatises in Latin by the Neapolitan Jesuit Giulio Cesare Recupito (1581-1647), both of which dedicated to Cardinal Francesco Barberini. Pages 5 to 85 present a reprint of the treatise on the Vesuvian eruption of 1632, published in Naples by Egidio Longo in 1632 in 4°, which is exhibited in this exhibition also in the editio princeps; on pages 87 to 140 there is the work on the Calabrian earthquake of 1638, originally published by the archbishop printer Francesco Savio under the title De novo in universa Calabria terræmotu congeminatus nuncius (Naples 1638). The second paper, in the form of a report, deals with the sequence of earthquakes that struck the Calabrian peninsula from March 27 with its epicentre south of Cosenza. The most affected localities are reviewed, with a count of the victims, which are, however, decidedly overestimated (30,000) compared to the late reports written in the field. The style is dry and devoid of poignant overtones, but with a wealth of detail. Several extraordinary natural phenomena are reported, there are notations on the most important damaged buildings, and finally anecdotes about human behaviour taken from letters and reports sent by direct witnesses. [DC]
