2.01 Loffredo 1580; Di Falco 1580
Ferrante Loffredo, Le antichità di Pozzuolo et luoghi convicini, Naples 1580
E-POZ 142-1800 raro II
Benedetto di Falco, Descrittione dei luoghi antiqui di Napoli e del suo amenissimo distretto, Naples 1580
E-NAP 11-1800 raro II
The volume on display encloses two fundamental works of the early Neapolitan periegesis, focusing on ‘antiquities’ and on the amenity of natural sites.
The first is the third edition (editio princeps: 1570) of a periegetic operetta on the Phlegrean Fields that had enormous success; it was written by Ferrante Loffredo, marquis of Trevico and member of the War Council of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Naples. The genesis of the work lies in a period of time the author spent in the town in the Phlegrean Fields for health reasons, which offered the opportunity to explore the remains of Roman monuments and the natural beauty of the area, including those concerning the thermal and volcanic phenomena. The text is full of reminiscences of classical authors, mixed with popular knowledge about the places and their history. Chapter XVIII is entirely dedicated to the genesis of the “Montagna Nuova” (New Mountain), a recent and characteristic element of the Phlegrean landscape, which the author links to the seismic history of the Puteolian area. The second part of the volume is made up of the 1580 edition of the Descrittione di Napoli by Benedetto di Falco, published in Naples in 1548 and reprinted in numerous editions, a work at the origin of Neapolitan art-historical literature. [ES]
