Rome Down The Centuries [antikvár]

Introduction"Roman Itineraries", now in its sixth successful edition, has a change of title and becomes that indicated by the writer Carlo Belli in the preface of this text: "A Roman Stroll Down the Centuries". This alteration is undoubtedly a courageous choice, given the general consent the previous editions have acquired. Four editions were printed under the auspices of the Ente Provinciale del Turismo di Roma (the Provincial Rome Tourist Authority) which also took charge of translations into English, French, German and Spanish, thus circulating the publication throughout the world with the collaboration ofENIT, the Italian national tourist board. Two further editions were entrusted to the celebrated Rome publishing house, Fratelli Palombi.The new title suggested by the preface will surely be well received by those of our readers who found the "Roman Itineraries" title dull in comparison with the book's contents and urged us to be more imaginative.We, the publishers and author in full accord, felt we could act on this suggestion and we were facilitated in this by the series which "hosts" this seventh edition under the general title: "Itineraries of Art and Culture ''. The change is not drastic, therefore, and will prove equally coherent with the type of publication proposed for illustrating Rome in its various epochs and in the simplest way, which means describing its urbanis-tic and architectural evolution.As we pointed out in previous editions, this book was born of practical need. Generally, and especially on visits of just a few days, sightseeing in Rome is disorganised in the sense that, on the same day and maybe in the same area, the tourist visits monuments of the most disparate periods. So, in recalling the marvels seen in a certain confusion, visitors cannot easily set a monument against its own historical background. This is usually verified in a city like Rome of millenial history, where the modern rises beside the ancient, where the Baroque flanks the Mediaeval or Renaissance.In perfect synthesis, Carlo Belli in his preface has managed to illustrate the spirit and essence of these updated and revised Roman strolls.Like the publishers I, too, am confident that this new edition's reception will at least equal the consensus past editions enjoyed, a gratifying consensus perhaps because of the book's originality in that it is not really a tourist guide in the true sense. Rather, it is a type of reportage which, according to one American newspaper, could be read as a novel, in the comfort of one's own armchair, in New York.