Italian

A compilation of physics-related knowledge from the late 18^th century, this text by Augustino A. Messano was likely penned by the scribe Petrus ab Albavilla. Little is known about Messano or his scribe. Bound with the hundreds of pages of text are 15 illustrations, engraved by the Italian wood-engraver Iganazio Lucchesini, demonstrating dozens of physics-related experiments. Unfortunately, the paper size of the engravings is slightly larger than of the paper used for the text, resulting in a book sorely in need of treatment.

Observations over some Fragments of Ancient Glass Vases Ornamented with Figures Found in Rome Cemeteries is the work of Filippo Buonarroti (Florence, 1661- 1733), an early scholar of Etruscan art and antiquities, studying the collection in the family palazzo-museum, Casa Buonarroti. He made a study of the bottoms of Roman gold glass vessels that were used as grave markers on the walls around the burial niches of catacombs in Rome. Buonarotti included many illustrations of these decorated pieces and fragments of glass, many of them showing portraits of the gravesite owners.

The Book of the Art of Cennino Cennini is an English translated book from Italian, first published in 1859. The artist, Cennino Cennini, was an Italian painter born around 1360 and died before 1427. He trained under Agnolo Gaddi, and worked in Padua, at the court of Francesco Novello da Carrara. This book is an English translation of Cennino Cennini’s most notable publication, Il Libro Dell'Arte, with an introduction and commentary by celebrated British artist (and art patron), Christiana J. Herringham.