Détails historiques des tremblemens de terre arrivés en Italie Depuis le 5 Février jusqu’en Mai 1783. Par MM. le Chevalier Hamilton, de la Société Royale de Londres, & le Marquis Hippolyte; & lus dans une Assemblée de cette Société. Traduits par M. Lefebvre de Villebrune.
41071
Paris, Théophile Barrois le jeune, 1783
8° (193x123 mm). [4], 75, [1] pp. Woodcut headpiece on l. A1r. Modern boards, spine with longitudinal title in gilt. Red edges. An excellent, wide-margined copy. A tiny hole to the gutter, not affecting text. A few unsignificant, and marginal stains. Some pencilled marks.
The rare French translation, made by Jean Baptiste Lefebvre de Villebrune (1732-1809), of Hamilton’s relation on the 1783 tragedy in Southern Italy, communicated on 23 May by the British ambassador to the Royal Society and originally published on the Philosophical Transactions (An Account of the earthquakes which happened in Italy). Added is a letter send by the Marquis Francesco Ippolito.
M. Sleep, Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803): His Work and Influence on Geology, “Annals of Science”, 25 (1969), pp. 319-338; J. Black, The Grand Tour in the Eighteenth Century, Stroud 1992; I. Jenkins-K. Sloan (eds.), Vases and Volcanoes. Sir William Hamilton and his Collections, London 1996 (in part. K. Sloan, Observations on the Kingdom of Naples. William Hamilton’s Diplomatic Career, pp. 24-39; and J. Thackray, The Modern Pliny, pp. 65-74); D. Constantine, Fields of Fire. A Life of Sir William Hamilton, London 2001.
€ 1.200
