Visconti, Ennio Quirinio: Lettera [...] intorno ad una antica supelletile d’argento scoperta in Roma nell'anno 1793. Seconda edizione accresciuta di nuove tavole in rame.
 
Roma, Salviucci, 1827. 4to. viii + 44 pp. + 25 engraved plates (one folding).
 
A charming copy in original marbled boards, uncut save for top edge, engraved label to front cover. Slight rubbing, final plate a little foxed, but fine.
 
A rare work describing the so-called Esquiline Treasure (most of which is now in the British Museum), an extraordinary hoard of late Roman silver found on the Esquiline Hill, comprising a silver coffer containing vases, spoons, basin, bowls, jugs, mirror and other utensils. Although a number of large late Roman hoards have been discovered, most are from the fringes of the empire (such as Roman Britain), and very few objects from the period can be presumed to have been made by silversmiths in Rome itself, giving the Esquiline Treasure a special significance.
 
The discovery was announced in a 1793 edition of Viscontis letter, followed by an enlarged edition with plates in 1825. The present edition of 1827 is the final version, with the original plate 24 having been replaced by a folding plate with more detailed illustration.
 
Ennio Quirino Visconti (1751-1818) was a famous Italian classical archaeologist and head of the Capitoline Museum, and curator of antiquities of the Musée Napoleon housed in the Louvre.