Campi phlegræi. : Observations on the volcanoes of the Two Sicilies as they have been communicated to the Royal Society / by Sir William Hamilton ... To which, … a new and accurate map is annexed, with 54 plates illuminated from drawings taken and colour’d after nature, under the inspection of the author, by the editor Mr. Peter Fabris. = Observations sur les volcans des Deux Siciles telles qu'elles ont été communiquées à la Societé Royale de Londres par le Chevalier Hamilton ...
Sir William Hamilton KB (1730-1803)
Category
Books
Date
1776
Materials
Place of origin
Rome
Order this imageCollection
Wimpole, Cambridgeshire
NT 3082330
Caption
The sight of a live volcano would have most of us fleeing faster than you could shout ‘molten lava!’ but not so our 18th-century forebears. Campi Phlegraei or ‘Flaming Fields’ is a first-hand report of the spectacular eruptions of Mount Vesuvius written by Sir William Hamilton, the British envoy to the Neapolitan royal court and expert volcanologist. Today, he is perhaps better known as the much older husband of Lady Emma Hamilton during her scandalous love affair with Lord Nelson. As a diplomat, Hamilton entertained many visitors and frequently accompanied them on the perilous ascent of the live volcano without a hard hat or flame-proof jacket in sight. The area’s history of volcanic activity, including the recently excavated nearby classical sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum, made it a popular tourist destination for wealthy travellers making the Grand Tour. Hamilton’s text is a wonderful example of a beautifully illustrated treatise from the Age of Enlightenment - when science clearly came before health and safety.
Summary
Bibliographic description
2 v., col. plates : map ; fol. Shelved as a set with the Supplement, 1779. Imperfect: wanting: (1) text to plates IIII, XII, XXIV, XXXVII, XXXIX, XXXX, XXXXI; (2) plates: III, XXIII, XXVI, XXVIII, XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXX, XXXXIV. Provenance: No marks of provenance. Binding: Eighteenth-century Italian half sheep and paste paper over boards on four recessed cords; gilt spine title and spine roll.
Makers and roles
Sir William Hamilton KB (1730-1803), author Fabris, Peter, editor