Graecorum sigliae lapidariae. Verona, [Agostino Carattoni], 1746
MAFFEI, (Scipione)
Large engraved vignette on title-page, engraved folding plate of an inscription, woodcut initials and tailpieces.
Small 8vo. 142pp. Original publisher's boards, uncut (a little soiled). 1746
First edition of Maffei's important work on the decipherment of Greek abbreviations found on classical inscriptions, which he believed had been neglected in favour of Roman ones by other scholars. At the end of this study Maffei provides a twenty page prospectus for the "Museo Lapidario" for Greek, Etruscan, Paleo-Veneta, Roman and Arabic inscriptions. The museum was founded in 1745 with Maffei's own collection forming the basis of the holdings. Maffei himself transformed the collection into what has been described as the first modern, scientifically organised public museum. It was aquired by the city of Verona in 1883 and was reinstalled in a contemporary style in 1982.
Brunet III, 1291. Not in Cicognara.
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