Among the books collected by Horace Walpole (1717–1797) was a small volume of sketches of antiquities. Irène Aghion has pursued elusive clues to establish Pietro Santi Bartoli (1635–1700) as the artist and places his sketchbook in its proper context, the lively world of 17th-century Rome. In following Bartoli’s sketchbook from Rome to London to Farmington, Connecticut, Aghion uncovers the stories of these antiquities, found in Rome, acquired by collectors, and now held in collections throughout Europe.
Long before Wilmarth Sheldon Lewis gave his library to Yale, he revived Horace Walpole’s short-lived series, Miscellaneous Antiquities; or, A Collection of Curious Papers. The Lewis Walpole Library launched a second revival of Miscellaneous Antiquities in 2004 and this publication is the latest installment in the series.
