Old books

The Museum of Rome's collection of old books consists of approximately one thousand volumes. They give a significant picture of the publishing production in Rome from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. The subjects vary from topography to history, from art to literature and Roman customs. The Museum currently houses guidebooks and histories of the city, publications on the ancient Roman ruins, studies on antiquity and treatises on art and architecture. Moreover, this collection provides historical evidence of the profound changes which took place, from the middle of the sixteenth century on, in the way people related to antiquity, which Rome has always symbolised. Particularly significant in this sense are the first edition of the Antiquae Romae topographia (1534), the guides to Rome by Andrea Fulvio and Bernardo Gamucci and the Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae (1575) by A.Lafrey. The first group of books dates from the foundation of the Museum in 1930 and grew through the acquisition of the collection belonging to Antonio Muñoz (1961) and thanks to the donation of Countess Pecci Blunt (1972). In 1990, the Museum of Rome acquired part of the valuable collection of ancient books (107 volumes) which belonged to the bibliophile and collector Franklin H. Kissner (1909-1988) from the London auction house Christie's. The volumes purchased on this occasion include some sixteenth century scripts by Andrea Fulvio and Flavio Biondo, Giovan Pietro Bellori's works- including the Admiranda Romanorum Antiquitatum of 1693- and the eighteenth century texts by Giovanni Stefano Granara, Filippo Titi and Ridolfino Venuti.