La Mostra The Journey, the Visit and the Narrative Guidebooks, Route Maps and Special Publications

The invention of movable type printing

The 1475 Jubilee was the first to benefit from German Johannes Gutenberg’s recent invention of printing with movable type (in 1455). Printing was an extraordinary tool for circulating news, ideas and knowledge. From that time onwards, Jubilees offered an opportunity to publish a wide variety of printed materials, from official, ritual and regulatory documents such as the bulls of indiction to devotional publications like prayer books and instructions for benefiting from indulgences, as well as pamphlets for a more educated audience keen to find out the background and history of the Jubilee in order to maximize the experience.

Brigida di Svezia (St.), Orationes sancte Brigitte, cum oratione sancti Augustini, Roma 1495 ca

The Mirabilia Romae in the edition printed in Treviso for the Jubilee of 1475

Guides to the city of Rome, which have always helped pilgrims discover the wonders of the city, are one of the longest-running success stories in the publication history of the Jubilee. As early as the Middle Ages, the so called “Mirabilia Urbis” (or “Mirabilia Romae”) manuscript was widely circulated, its oldest versions dating back as far as the twelfth century. These books offered brief descriptions of sacred and pagan monuments in Rome, as well as covering the city’s history. They were written by grammarians and scholars who combined information, traditional credences and imaginative reconstructions. Compared with earlier itineraries and catalogues of monuments and churches, these books showed a new interest in Roman antiquities and their great appeal. The earliest printers realized how popular these publications were, and went on to bring out over a hundred editions from the 1470s onwards. In the 1540s, “Mirabilia Urbis” books started to include Christian devotional itineraries as well as Roman history and descriptions of Rome’s monuments. A new type of guide, titled “Cose Maravigliose”, sought to reconcile travellers’ artistic and historical curiosity with the need to provide pilgrims with information about churches, stations and relics, which up until that time had been catered to by so-called “Indulgentiae” and “Itineraria”.

Mirabilia Romae, Treviso 1475

"Il sollazzo del pellegrino": a guide of Rome in english

Between 1447 and 1452, Augustinian friar John Capgrave wrote a guide to Rome for British pilgrims, titled “Ye Solace of Pilgrimes”. Thought to have been lost until a copy was unearthed in the early twentieth-century, this was one of the last versions of a medieval guide to the city. Although essentially faithful to the codified “Mirabilia Urbis” genre and books of indulgences and relics, it was enhanced by the author’s personal notes, which he made during a trip to Rome during Nicholas V’s papacy.

John Capgrave, Ye solace of pilgrimes, a description of Rome, circa 1450, London 2012 (anastatic reprint from the ed. London 1911)

The "Opusculum de mirabilibus novae & veteris urbis Romae" by Francesco Albertini

Francesco Albertini, Opusculum de mirabilibus novae & veteris urbis Romae..., Roma 1510

The "Antichità di Roma" ascribed to Andrea Palladio

Giovanni Tarcagnota (pseud. Andrea Palladio), L'antichità di Roma di m. Andrea Palladio, raccolta brevemente da gli auttori antichi, & moderni. Di nuovo ristampata et corretta, Venezia 1565

"Le cose meravigliose dell'alma città di Roma" for the Jubilee of 1575

For the 1575 Jubilee, pilgrims could choose from as many as ten different editions of “Cose Meravigliose” on the city of Rome. These guides were enriched over time to regularly include descriptions of churches, stations and relics; handbooks on how to earn an indulgence; the “Roman guide” (a brief itinerary for visiting the city in three days); a chronology of popes, kings, Roman Emperors and pre-eminent Christians; Palladio/Tarcagnota’s Antiquities of Rome; and a list of the main post houses for changing horses. Some of these guides featured a pastoral letter dated 10 September 1574 from the Archbishop of Milan Carlo Borromeo to diocesans, urging them to embark on a pilgrimage to Rome during the forthcoming Jubilee.

Le cose maravigliose dell'alma città di Roma dove si tratta delle chiese, stationi, & reliquie de' corpi santi che vi sono. Con un trattato d'acquistar l'indulgentie. La guida romana che insegna facilmente a i forastieri a ritrovare le più notabil cose di Roma. Li nomi de i sommi pontefici, imperadori, & altri principi christiani. L'antichità di Roma brevemente raccolta. Et un discorso sopra i fuochi degli antichi. Tutti novamente purgati, & corretti. Et una epistola del cardinale Borromeo del giubileo dell'anno santo, Roma 1575

The first guide of Rome complete with xylographies, by Girolamo Franzini

Le cose maravigliose dell’alma città di Roma, dove si veggono il movimento delle guglie, & gli acquedotti per condurre l’acqua felice, le ample. & commode strade, fatte à beneficio publico dal Santissimo Sisto V p.o.m., et si tratta delle chiese, rappresentate in disegno da Gieronimo Francino, con le stationi, & reliquie de' corpi santi che vi sono, et un trattato del modo d’acquistare l’indulgenze... L’antichità di Roma brevemente raccolta..., nuovamente corretti & purgati da molti errori, & ampliate dal reverendo padre fra Santi de Sant'Agostino, Venezia 1588

"Le cose meravigliose dell’alma città di Roma" for the Jubilee of 1600

Le cose meravigliose dell’alma città di Roma, dove si tratta delle chiese, stationi, & reliquie de’ corpi santi, che vi sono. Con la guida romana, che insegna facilmente à forastieri di ritrovare le più notabil cose di Roma. Con le poste d’Italia. I nomi de' sommi pontefici, imperatori, & altri prencipi christiani. Et di nuovo corretto, & ampliato con le cose notabili fatte da papa Sisto quinto, & da papa Clemente ottavo..., Roma 1600

French edition of the "Cose meravigliose" for the Jubilee of 1750

Les marveilles de la ville de Rome où est traitè des eglises, stations, & reliques des corps saints qui y sont, avec la guide qui enseigne aux estrangers à aysement trouver les choses plus remarquables de Rome. Ensemble les noms des papes, empereurs & autres princes chrestiens. Novellement corrigè, & amplifiè: avec un addition da la restauration des eglises.... Beaoucoup corrigè, & augmentè en cette impression. On y a ajoutè la guide des chemins de Rome aux principales villes d'Italie, & lieux circonvoisins, avec voyage de S. Jacque en Galice..., Roma 1750

Spanish edition of the "Cose meravigliose" of the city of Rome

Compendio de las cosas mas particulares de la Santa ciudad de Roma con la noticia de sus iglesias, estaciones, reliquias, cuerpos de santos, i dotes para donzellas pobres que ai en ella. Guia puntual para que los forasteros hallen con facilidad sus mas notables maravillas, nombres de sumos Pontifices, Emperadores, i Reyes Christianos de la Europa. De nuevo corregido, i aumentado de laminas, i los dias de las postas de Roma para Espana, Roma 1769

The Itinerary of Italy by Franz Schott

The Itinerary of Italy by jurist Franz Schott was published in Latin in Antwerp on the occasion of the Jubilee of 1600, as a guide for pilgrims who would go to Italy for the Holy year. It's the first guide to accompany travellers to Italy combining information about routes and distances typical of postal guides and historical and artistic notions. The work achieved a great success, was translated in Italian, French and English and provided with a rich apparatus of maps and charts.

Franz Schott, Itinerarii Italiae rerumq. romanarum libri tres..., Antwerpen 1600

Italian edition of the Itinerary of Italy by Franz Schott

The first Italian edition of Franz Schott’s “Itinerario d’Italia” was published in Venice in 1610, albeit with a frontispiece that wrongly attributed authorship of the book to Franz’s better-known brother Andrea (a Jesuit philologist and antiquarian). The error was repeated in all Italian editions until 1650.

Franz Schott, Itinerario, overo nova descrittione de' viaggi principali d'Italia, nella quale si hà piena notitia di tutte le cose più notabili e degne d'esser vedute..., Vicenza 1622

"I tesori nascosti dell'alma città di Roma", by Ottavio Panciroli, published for the Jubilee of 1600

To commemorate the 1600 Jubilee, theologian Ottavio Panciroli published a work that, as he states in his “letter to readers”, was explicitly intended to counter “Cose meravigliose”, a recently-published work revised and expanded by Augustinian friar Santi Solinori. The work features a brief treatise on the Jubilee, its origins and ceremonies, as well as a chapter on the catacombs, one on the titles, deaconships and bishoprics of cardinals, and one on the stations. In terms of the breadth and credibility of its treatment, the work’s most innovative and important feature was its focus on the churches of Rome; indeed, it was greatly drawn upon by his successors. Panciroli set out to provide a comprehensive overview of the churches of Rome, alphabetically describing 313 of them, compared with the 141 in “Cose meravigliose”.

Ottavio Panciroli, I tesori nascosti dell'alma città di Roma raccolti, e posti in luce per opera d'Ottavio Panciroli teologo da Reggio, Roma 1600

The"Trattato nuovo delle cose meravigliose dell'alma città di Roma" by Pietro Martire Felini

Pietro Martire Felini, Trattato nuovo delle cose maravigliose dell’alma città di Roma, diviso in due parti. Nella prima si discorre brevemente delle cose più essentiali appartenenti a trecento et più chiese. Nella seconda con facilità, & bellissimo ordine si mostrano, & dichiarano tutte l’antichità della detta alma città. Composto da f. Pietro Martire Felini da Cremona dell’Ordine de’ Servi, Roma 1610

The "Descriptio urbis Romae novissima" by Giovanni Maggi

In 1600, a map of the city was produced for Jubilee pilgrims, framed as a polyptych in eight vignettes depicting the Holy Door opening ceremony at St Peter’s and the city’s seven most important churches. This map, made by Roman engraver Giovanni Maggi, was a great commercial success. It was reprinted a number of times; this version is from 1672. Its small format and the inclusion of brief historical and descriptive notes made it useful to pilgrims as a guide.

Giovanni Maggi, Descriptio urbis Romae novissima a. D. MDCLXXII, Roma 1672

The "Ritratto di Roma moderna" by Pompilio Totti

Pompilio Totti’s guide to Rome had two new features compared with its predecessors: it is in two distinct volumes edited and published at different times, but which complement one another: the “Ritratto di Roma antica” (1627), and a Portrait of Modern Rome (1628). In addition to this, the guide’s illustrations were the first to systematically use the more refined chalcographic process. The volume dedicated to modern Rome dispensed with the standard guidebook approach of the day. Instead, it adopted itineraries organized into days and districts. Although obviously based on an earlier work by Panciroli, its description of churches combined architectural and artistic notes with information on the origins, history and administration of churches, as well as on the Companies and Confraternities to which they belonged. The two-volume Ritratto continued to be published anonymously for sixty years by the de’ Rossi publishing house. It also came out in German and Dutch translations. The specimen on display is a 1652 edition updated with information and images of works commissioned by Innocent X: the Fontana dei Fiumi in Piazza Navona, the Lateran refurbished for the 1650 Jubilee, and Pietro da Cortona’s recently-completed frescoes at Chiesa Nuova.

Pompilio Totti, Ritratto di Roma moderna... in questa nuova editione accresciuto, e migliorato in molti luoghi, Roma 1652

"Roma ricercata nel suo sito" by Fioravante Martinelli, published for the Jubilee of 1650

Fioravante Martinelli, Roma ricercata nel suo sito, et nella scuola di tutti gli antiquarii, e descritta con breve, e facil modo per visitare li luoghi antichi e moderni della città... Seconda impressione revista, corretta, & aggiunta dall’autore in molti luoghi, accresciuta dal modo di acquistare il giubileo dell’anno santo M. DC. L, Roma 1650

"Roma ricercata nel suo sito" by Fioravante Martinelli and its paperback edition printed for the Jubilee of 1725

On the occasion of Holy year 1725, eighty years after the "princeps" one, were printed in Rome two different editions of Fioravante Martinelli's guidebook: the first, published at the expense of a cultured Roman bookseller, Giuseppe Sangermano Corvo, who added by his own fair hand information about the new works realized in the city, is a fine edition embellished by a rich and refined iconographic apparatus; the second, which Senate copy belongs to, is a popular edition addressed to a wider and worse-off public, printed on poor quality paper and illustrated with several rough xylographs.

Fioravante Martinelli, Le magnificenze di Roma antica, e moderna ricercate nel proprio sito con tutte le cose notabili ch’in essa si trovano, cioè chiese, monasterj, ospedali... teatri, anfiteatri..., fori..., palazzi, statue..., musei, pitture..., Roma 1725

The "Mercurio errante" by Pietro Rossini

Pietro Rossini, Il mercurio errante delle grandezze di Roma, tanto antiche che moderne... In questa quarta edizione megliorato, ed accresciuto, con l’aggiunta delle fabriche fatte in Roma, e fuori fin’al presente pontefice regnante Benedetto XIII, Roma 1725

"Roma antica e moderna": the guide by quarters by Roisecco

Roma antica e moderna o sia nuova descrizione della moderna città di Roma, e di tutti gli edifizi notabili, che sono in essa, e delle cose più celebri, che erano nella antica Roma... Abbellita con duecento e più figure in rame, con curiose notizie istoriche, e con la cronologia di tutti li sommi pontefici, re, consoli e imperadori romani. Accresciuta in questa nuova edizione di un tomo terzo..., Roma 1745

The'"Itinerario istruttivo" and the "Tesoro sagro e venerabile" by Giuseppe Vasi

Giuseppe Vasi, Tesoro sagro e venerabile cioè le basiliche, le chiese, i cimiterj e i santuarj di Roma... raccolti e con brevità descritti da Giuseppe Vasi... per disposizione ed apparecchio del prossimo anno del giubbileo MDCCLXXV, Roma 1771

French edition of the "Itinerario istruttivo" by Giuseppe Vasi

In 1773 Giuseppe Vasi printed the first French edition of his guide, which thanks to its refined iconographic apparatus, though in small size, and to a very modern commercial policy, achieved an extraordinary editorial success. After the death of his author, in 1782, his son Mariano kept on publishing the guide in both languages, in correct editions, enlarged and enriched with engraved plates, which in 1804 were also captioned with bilingual texts.

Giuseppe Vasi, Itinéraire instructif de Rome en faveur des étrangers qui souhaitent connoitre les ouvrages de peinture, de sculpture & d'architecture, & tous les monumens antiques & modernes de cette ville. Avec une description de ce qu'il ya de plus remarquables aux environs... Cinquième édition corrigée, augmentée & enrichie de planches par Mariano Vasi,Roma 1786

The editions of the"Itinerario istruttivo" by Giuseppe Vasi, edited by his son Mariano

Mariano Vasi, Itinerario istruttivo di Roma o sia descrizione generale delle opere più insigni di pittura, scultura e architettura e di tutti i monumenti antichi, e moderni di quest'alma città, e parte delle due adiacenze..., Roma 1794

The guide of Rome by Angelo Uggeri

The "Catalogo delle antichità, belle arti e curiosità di Roma" by Angelo Uggeri includes three lithographed colour plates which represent typical costume romans, and some pages left specially blank to write any traveller's notes on.

Ferrari, Trasteverino, in: Angelo Uggeri, Catalogue des antiquités beaux arts et curiosités de Rome et des environs, Roma 1817 [?]

The red books by Murray, Baedecker e Touring Club Italiano

About the half of XIX century several European publishers in their countries (England, Germany, France) begin to produce a new kind of guides, which meets modern travellers' demands. So, beside historic-artistic information, assume great importance practical information, from those about transport to the ones about documents necessary for the trip, from hotels to restaurants, cafés, markets, postal and medical services. The first of these guidebooks is "A handbook of Rome and its environs", published in London in 1843 by John Murray, considered the inventor of modern pocket guidebook.

John Murray, A handbook of Rome and its environs, 9 ed., London 1869

The red books by Murray, Baedecker e Touring Club Italiano

The Murray Guide became a template for a guide printed in Germany by publisher Karl Baedeker who, from the 1860s onwards, brought out editions in German, French and English too. British visitors to Italy would not travel without E.M. Foster’s “A Room with a View”, a story so masterfully told.

Karl Baedeker, Italie centrale y compris Rome et ses environs. Manuel du voyageur..., 11 ed., Leipzig 1897

The red books by Murray, Baedecker e Touring Club Italiano

From this kind of guidebooks takes inspiration the Italian one published by Touring Club at the beginning of XX century. The copy here reproduced is taken from the edition published in the Holy year 1950.

Touring Club Italiano, Guida d'Italia. Roma e dintorni, Milano 1950

"De origine et progressu celebritatis anni iubilei" by Francesco Maria Febei

In 1675, The Archbishop of Tarso, Francesco Maria Febei, the first pontifical master of ceremonies, wrote “Ad instruendum animum imminente anno iubilei”, an erudite Latin treatise on the origin, history and rites of the Holy Year, in a lavish illustrated publication dedicated to Pope Clement X and conceived for an educated and refined readership.

Francesco Maria Febei, De origine et progressu celebritatis anni iubilei Franc. Maria Phoebeus urbevetanus... ad instruendum animum imminente anno iubilei MDCXXV, Roma 1675

The "Notizie istoriche delle quattro basiliche di Roma" by Giovanni Battista Vaccondio

To mark the 1700 Jubilee, Roman legal expert Father Giovanni Battista Vaccondio wrote what he defined “a learned curiosity of ecclesiastic erudition” that “may be well received... by those who hie to Rome to earn the treasure of a holy indulgence”. The slim volume opens with a brief excurses on the Holy Year (its origin, history and ceremonies), followed by a description of the four patriarchal basilicas.

Giovanni Battista Vaccondio, Notizie istoriche delle quattro basiliche di Roma... con un breve trattato dell'anno di remissione e sua origine..., Roma 1700

"La storia dell'anno MDCCL"

From 1836 onwards, the annual “La storia dell’anno”, an extremely widely-circulated almanac printed in Venice (albeit falsely claiming to have been printed in Amsterdam) summarized the most important news and events to have taken place during the previous year, drawing on Italian and foreign newspapers. The edition that covered 1750 features significant coverage of the Holy Year that had just been celebrated under Benedict XIV.

La storia dell'anno MDCCL divisa in quattro libri. Dove veggonsi gli avvenimenti principali del medesimo anno, e spezialmente, la celebrazione del Giubbileo di Roma, i maneggi per istornare la guerra del settentrione, per le cose dell'Impero germanico, per finire le differenze vigenti tra la Spagna e l'Inghilterra per il commerzio, per comporre la contesa risorta tra la Francia e l'Inghilterra..., Amsterdam [ma Venezia] 1750

"Del Giubileo narrazione istorica colla esposizione delle bolle" by Giuseppe Francesco Scarrone

The first edition of a historic jubilee-related work, published in the run-up to the Holy Year of 1825 by an author known simply by the initials G.F.S., who also went by the title “Count of Revigliasco and Celle”, was in actual fact the work of the Advocate General to the King of Sardinia, Giuseppe Francesco Scarrone.

Francesco Giuseppe Scarrone, Del Giubileo narrazione istorica colla esposizione delle bolle, costituzioni, notificazioni, indulti e circolari più essenziali dei sommi pontefici al medesimo relative e di altre interessanti notizie sullo stesso oggetto, a s.s. r. m. Maria Cristina di Borbone infanta delle due Sicilie, regina di Sardegna ec. ec. ec., Torino 1824

"Le istituzioni di pietà che si esercitano a Roma" by Guglielmo Costanzi

Given that on every streetcorner in Rome, “one may take part in and practice religious works,” in 1825 a clergyman called Guglielmo Costanzi wrote two volumes dedicated to Roman institutions of piety “for the edification of foreign visitors who arrive in the city in a Jubilee year”. He described churches, colleges, hospitals, catacombs and sacred places in terms of the rites, ceremonies, religious works and spiritual exercises performed there, specifically eschewing the intention of “educating antiquarian-focused readers who come to Rome to seek the fine arts, but rather for the devoted who walk the streets of this city to find fodder for their religious spirit”.

Guglielmo Costanzi, Le istituzioni di pietà che si esercitano in Roma con una breve notizia de' santuari che si venerano in essa, recate specialmentea contezza degli esteri che vengono in questa città nell'anno del giubileo..., Roma 1825

L'"Itinerario" per visitare le chiese di Roma" by Alessandro Rufini

Roman-born scholar Alessandro Rufini, among other things author of “Dizionario etimologico-storico delle strade, piazze, borghi e vicoli della città di Roma” and “Notizie storiche intorno alla origine dei nomi di alcune osterie, caffè, alberghi e locande esistenti nella città di Roma”, wrote this early A-Z for foreign visitors and Romans – there were so many churches in Rome that even locals were not always able to get to them without some kind of guide. In alphabetical order, for every church Rufini offers a route map through streets and piazzas from the heart of the city, in this case Piazza Colonna.

Alessandro Rufini, Itinerario ossia metodo facile e sicuro di visitare senza altra guida le chiese di Roma, Roma 1851

The guide for the catholic traveller

Edouard de Bleser, Rome et ses monuments. Guide du voyageur catholique dans la capitale du monde chrétien... Quatrième edition augmentée d’un itinéraire à Rome distribué en seize groupes par l’abbé Jean Roger... et d’un plan illustré de la ville par Carlo Marre..., Louvain, Paris, Roma 1881

Historic-theoretical-practical handbook of the Jubilee for the Holy Year 1900

Alessandro di S. Teresa, Manuale storico-teorico-pratico del giubileo in occasione dell'anno santo 1900, aggiunte per esteso le cerimonie e le preci dell'apertura e chiusura delle porte sante..., Milano 1899

Guide of Rome for the Holy Year 1925

Mariano Borgatti, Borgo e S. Pietro nel 1300, nel 1600 e nel 1925, con illustrazioni del ten. col. Enrico Pollini, Roma 1925

All the Popes from St. Peter to Pius XI. A chronology with a biographical outline and their portraits published for the Holy Year 1925

Tutti i Papi da San Pietro a Pio XI. Cronologia con cenni biografici e ritratti pubblicata in occasione dell'anno santo 1925, Milano 1925

A commemorative album of the Jubilee of 1925 published by the Ambrosiana Library of Milan

Federico Garofoli, Anno jubilaei Romae MCMXXV, Milano 1925

Special issue of the illustrated magazine "Il secolo XX" fully dedicated to the Holy Year 1925

The review, which started monthly in 1902 and became weekly in 1928, dedicates a special issue to the Holy year 1925.

Il secolo XX: rivista mensile illustrata, special issue fully dedicated to the Holy Year, Milano 1925

All the popes through curios and anecdotes, published for the Extraordinary Holy Year of 1933

Tutti i Papi attraverso le curiosità e gli aneddoti, Torino-Roma 1933

A panoramic view of the Vatican City in 1933

Silvio Eroli, Forma vaticanae urbis a Sylvio Eroli delineata a. D. MDCCCCXXXIII, Roma 1933

The pilgrim book: Holy Year 1950

Central Committee for the Holy Year, Libro del pellegrino: anno santo 1950, Città del Vaticano 1949

A little guide of Rome for the pilgrims of the 25th Jubilee

Piccola guida di Roma per i pellegrini del venticinquesimo giubileo, edited by the Press Office of the Central Committee for the Holy Year, Roma 1950

Guide of Rome for the Holy Year 1950

Giovanni Mariotti, Roma: anno santo 1950, Roma 1950