4.05 Filomarino 1797
Ascanio Filomarino, Gabinetto Vesuviano Del Duca Della Torre. Edizione terza, Naples 1797
Be 4015-3970 raro III
This illustrated catalogue of Vesuvian eruptions is the work of Duke Filomarino, a Neapolitan scientist known for his interest in seismic and eruptive phenomena. The copy here is from the third edition: the editio princeps had been published in 1794 under the title of Breve descrizione dei principali incendi del monte Vesuvio […]. While initially it had consisted of the description of the most intense eruptions, accompanied by engraved plates, the second edition (1796) as well as the following one shown here bear an extra section dedicated to the collections of mineral and stone materials that the Duke had been able to collect during his surveys on Vesuvius, as well as a very useful bibliographic repertory of volcanological topics.
The fine illustrations, which also circulated widely in loose form, refer to the main eruptions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, starting with the one that occurred in 1631, followed by the one in 1737 and the subsequent eruptions that occurred throughout the second half of the century. There are a total of 22 engravings, 20 of which are views of Vesuvius, while the last two correspond respectively to a topographical map of Torre del Greco and a cartographic representation of the volcanic cone. Six illustrations are devoted to the last eruption, in June 1794, which is also the best documented thanks to the valuable measurements made using seismographic instruments invented by Filomarino himself. [MV]
