The first guidebook of Rome. BIONDO. Roma ristaurata et Italia illustrata.

8vo; 153x100 mm. Vellum binding with handwritten title on spine. Leaves [16], 341 [i.e. 241], [11], 1 blank. Printer’s device (Sibyl) at the beginning and at the end. Woodcut initials and ornaments. Nice copy.

First Italian edition. Translation of the two most important writings by the humanist Biondo da Forlì, 1392-1463: the first guide to Rome, in which the city is systematically described along with an illustration of the geographical aspect of Italy, from the Alps to the Gulf of Salerno. The first work provides a rich topographical source for the study of the city and is part of the climate of administrative and urban reorganisation of Rome due to the return of the papal curia to the city in 1443. The 'Italia illustrata' constitutes an expansion and continuation of 'Roma ristaurata' and is linked to the relations that Biondo established around 1447-1448 with Alfonso of Aragon. It is a true geographical guide to Italy divided into regions. Biondo compiled antiquarian guides to the ruins of Rome, distancing himself from the tradition of the 'Mirabilia urbis' and initiating a fortunate genre based on the direct viewing of monuments and the use of first-hand documentary sources. The well-known antiquarian Lucio Fauno, early 16th century-post 1552, vulgarised the two Latin texts by simplifying or omitting the more complex passages contained in the originals. The final leaves 2H1v - 2I3r contain: 'Annotationi contra Biondo ne la sua Roma ristaurata, cauate da l'antica Roma di Giouanni Bartolomeo Margliano milanese'. The work was a great success and was reprinted several times.