Roma sotterranea: Nella Quale si Tratta de' Sacri Cimiterii di Roma, del Sito, Forma, & Uso Antico di Essi, de' Cubicoli, Oratorij, Imagini, Gieroglifici, Iscrittioni, & Epitaffi, Che vi Sono, del Significato Delle Dette Imagini

Antonio Bosio; Giovanni Severano [Editor]

In Roma : per Lodouico Grignani, 1650

Quarto, 24 cm. [12], 704 pp., illustration with woodcut engravings. Lacking final 32 pages and all 21 plates and the map. Bound in fine 3/4 brown moroccan over marbled boards by Bayntun Binders. Bookplate. Minor toning, occasional staining. Worming, affecting text. 

  Bosio (1576-1629), "father of Christian archaeology", spent nearly his life exploring the catacombs of Rome. Three years after his death, the present work, in Italian, was first published under the patronage of the Knights of Malta. This work has two parts: the first was devoted to early Christian burial practices and funeral rituals and the second dedicated to a detailed description of the Roman catacombs that Bosio explored. It is illustrated with depictions of Roman tombs, coffins, and catacombs, many of which have since deteriorated or been destroyed.