Maffei - Anfiteatri ... del Veronese - 1728

[Please note that the background setting in some images was created using AI to present the books in a pleasant environment. These background elements do not alter or affect the true representation and condition of the books]

ROME REBORN IN VERONA: MAFFEI AND THE FIRST GREAT STUDY OF THE ANCIENT AMPHITHEATRE
First edition of 1728 of one of the most important eighteenth-century studies devoted to Roman amphitheaters and, in particular, to the Arena of Verona. Scipione Maffei combines antiquarian research, analysis of classical sources, and direct observation of ancient architecture. The work is illustrated with 15 engraved plates, many folded, with plans, elevations and architectural reconstructions. A fundamental text in the birth of the scientific study of Roman monuments and in the history of Verona’s archaeology. A particularly interesting exemplar also for the ancient provenance and the manuscript annotations preserved in the volume.

WHY TO BUY
PRIMA EDIZIONE – Original Verona edition of 1728, a point of reference in the antiquarian bibliography dedicated to Roman amphitheaters.
15 TAVOLE INCISE – Important iconographic apparatus, with numerous folded plates dedicated to the structure, reconstruction and architectural details of amphitheaters.
L’ARENA DI VERONA – Maffei gives particular attention to the Verona amphitheater, studying it as a historical and architectural monument and contributing decisively to its modern rediscovery.
ESEMPLARE CON PROVENIENZA – Ownership mark “d’Antonio Soliani Raschini Bressellese,” price indication and contemporaneous or ancient manuscript annotations, elements documenting the material history and reception of the work.

MARKET VALUE
The first edition of De gli Anfiteatri by Maffei is sought after by collectors of archaeology and architecture as well as by those interested in Verona’s history and eighteenth-century antiquarianism. The presence of the 15 plates, especially if complete and well preserved, is decisive for commercial value. For a complete copy of the plates, in contemporary parchment binding and in the conditions described, a reasonable antiquarian market range can be indicated at about €700–1,200. Exceedingly fresh copies, complete and with meaningful provenance can command higher prices.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Contemporary full parchment binding, spine label in morocco with title printed in gold and additional handwritten titling. Author’s name handwritten at the head of the title page. Ancient ownership note “d’Antonio Soliani Raschini Bressellese,” handwritten price indication and occasional marginal notes in the text. Library stamp on the title page. Title page with an engraved vignette. Illustrated with 15 engraved plates, many folded, depicting amphitheaters, plans, elevations, sections and architectural reconstructions. A marginal stain is noted on Plate VI. In old books with a long history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing includes Visual AI renderings. Refer to the original photographs to verify the object’s actual condition. The images are an integral part of the description. Pp. (2); 12mo; 348; 12mo; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
De gli Anfiteatri e singolarmente del veronese.
In Verona, for Gio. Alberto Tumermani, 1728.
Scipione Maffei.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
De gli Anfiteatri represents one of the most significant moments of Scipione Maffei’s antiquarian activity and an important testimony of the shift from sixteenth-century erudition to a more modern method of studying ancient monuments. The work is organized into two books and approaches the topic from two complementary perspectives: historical and architectural. Maffei compares literary testimonies, archaeological observations, and the constructive features of the surviving buildings, seeking to reconstruct their function, structure, and transformations. The ideal center of the research is the Arena of Verona, a monument with which Maffei had a privileged relationship and which he regarded as a fundamental testimony to the Roman antiquity of his city. The investigation, however, does not remain confined to Verona: the comparison with other amphitheaters allows the author to address more general questions related to the Roman architectural typology. The figurative apparatus is particularly important. The plates transform the work from a simple erudite treatise into a visual tool for understanding ancient architecture. Plans, elevations and reconstructions allowed the eighteenth-century reader to analyze monuments often partially preserved and to imagine their original appearance. The work thus sits within the broader eighteenth-century process that would lead to the progressive transformation of antiquarian studies into archaeology and the history of architecture organized scientifically.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Scipione Maffei (Verona, 1675–1755) was one of the greatest Italian intellectuals of the first half of the eighteenth century: scholar, historian, archaeologist, playwright, collector and student of antiquities. The breadth of his interests led him from literature and theater to diplomacy, epigraphy, numismatics, and the systematic study of ancient monuments. He was deeply committed to valorizing Verona’s historical heritage and collected important Greek, Etruscan and Roman inscriptional testimonies. His name remains closely associated with Verona’s Museo Lapidario Maffeiano, one of the oldest public museum institutions in Europe dedicated to inscriptions and antiquities.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The first edition appeared in Verona in 1728 at Giovanni Alberto Tumermani. The publication sits in the period of greatest maturity of Maffei’s antiquarian studies and precedes other important elaborations of his archaeological and epigraphic research. The editorial complexity of the work is heightened by the 15 engraved plates, several of which are folded. These very illustrations today constitute one of the essential elements for establishing the completeness, collectible interest, and value of the copies. The survival of copies in major historical libraries testifies to the work’s diffusion in the European scholarly milieu. On the antiquarian market, the first edition is markedly more valuable when it preserves the entire graphic apparatus and the eighteenth-century binding.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Cicognara, Catalogo ragionato dei libri d’arte e d’antichità, no. 793.
ICCU – Servizio Bibliotecario Nazionale (SBN), census of eighteenth-century Italian editions.
OPAC SBN, Scipione Maffei, De gli Anfiteatri e singolarmente del veronese, Verona, Giovanni Alberto Tumermani, 1728.
WorldCat, bibliographic records of the first Verona edition of 1728.
Verona Civic Library, funds and bibliography relating to Scipione Maffei.
Museo Lapidario Maffeiano, Verona, documentation relating to Scipione Maffei’s antiquarian and epigraphic activity.
Cicognara Library, historical bibliography of the arts, architecture and archaeology.
Antiquarian catalogs and bibliographic guides dedicated to the history of archaeology, Roman architecture and the Arena of Verona.