Sommer, Giorgio. Napoli e Pompei.

[Naples, ca. 1880].

Oblong folio (370 x 295 mm). 2 photographed title pages and 42 albumen prints (245 x 205 mm), all mounted on cardboard. Contemp. red half calf with blindstamped cover borders and giltstamped title to cover and spine.

 2,500.00

Fine original selection of Sommer's legendary views of Campania which have fascinated tourists of Southern Italy since the late 19th century. "Giorgio Sommer (1834-1914) was one of the pioneers who reintroduced antiquity to the world through his work. A native German, he moved to Naples in 1857 to open a studio where he sold photographs of ancient ruins at Pompeii and other sites, ongoing excavations, recovered artifacts, and other images from the Bay of Naples" (National Gallery of Art, Washington DC). Among the ten views of Pompeii are a panorama, the House of the Faun, the amphitheatre, frescoes and casts of the victims of the Vesuvius eruption in the year 79. 15 views show Naples (panoramas, the chapel of Sansevero, the Teatro San Carlo, Via Partenope, Piazza Vittoria, Posillipo, etc.). Other photographs show Pozzuoli (Serapeion, amphitheatre), Bacoli, Salerno, Castellamare di Stabia, the cliffs of Sorrento, the Neptune temple at Paestum, the 1872 eruption of Mt. Vesuivius, and local Neapolitans.

Spine and corners bumped; binding loosened; some slight interior staining.

Stock Code: BN#25376 Tags: , ,