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Ragguaglio Del Viaggio Compendioso Di Un Dilettante Antiquario Sorpreso Da' Corsari Condotto In Barberia E Felicemente Rimpatriato. A Luigi Settala. Parte I (�II Con Appendice. Ragguaglio Di Alcuni Monumenti Di Antichita' Ed Arti Raccolti.)

8vo, later tan half morocco; spine ruled and lettered in gilt; decorative endpapers. Finely engraved frontispiece portrait of Ludovico Settala, with tissue guard; 140 + ix, (1), 270, (2) pages; 13 engraved plates, most of them folding, including maps, alphabets, and coin plates [Plate VII is a printed table, as issued; Plates IX and X combined onto one very large folding plate]. First title page margin repaired; neat repair to blank verso of one plate. Near fine. An attractive copy of this very scarce and interesting work, with several coin plates. Caronni (1747�1815) was a Barnabite priest and antiquarian, with strong numismatic interests. He was close to Giovanni Battista Visconti (father of Ennio Quirino Visconti, who would go on the create the magnificent Iconographie grecque et romaine. The elder Visconti had been a student of Winckelmann's and he encouraged Caronni in his interests. Caronni travelled extensively in his antiquarian researches. In June 1804, his ship was captured by corsairs and he was held in Tunis. Even there, he managed to find time to investigate local archaeological sites and findings, and he was released from captivity fairly quickly. An adventurous life, which is discussed here in some detail.