Eumelo Fenicio - Sull'antichità di Pianura uno de' XXXVII casali della fedelissima città di Napoli, e sulle vetuste - 1795

Rare and precious work of erudition and local Campanian history, published in Naples in 1795 by the Stamperia dell'Arcadia Reale. The author, who signs with the Arcadian pseudonym Conte Eumelo Fenicio, perpetual Prince and General Custodian of the Neapolitan Academy of the Sinceri, is identifiable as Sophocles Megalio.
The work is a polemical and documented response to the theses expressed by the historian Giovanni Antonio Summonte regarding the territory of Pianura and its history. The text opens with a dedication to Pope Pius VI Braschi and is distinguished by the richness of erudite notes, Latin and Greek quotations, as well as references to historical topography and the local traditions of the Neapolitan.

In 16°, pp. XXVIII + XII + 76 n. half parchment modern/20th-century well executed, with boards covered in multi-coloured marbled paper and stamped spine.

A specimen in generally good condition. Internal pages with physiological foxing and light reddening due to the paper of the period; wide margins with scuffed edges or margins trimmed conservatively. Title page well preserved with a woodcut vignette, final embellishment by a beautiful figurative cul-de-lampe.