1833-42. 3 vols. (vols. 1 and 2 published in 1833, vol. 3 in 1842), 8vo., contemporary buckram binding with gilt lettering to spines, pp. 386, [6]; 512; 435, with 4 large copper-engraved folding maps. V. rare book of great importance for understanding the economic and civic history of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Particularly rare is the third volume, published nine years after the first and second. Binding stained and fraying in places; spines faded; minor foxing to pages, mainly affecting edges; foxing to maps; some pages dogeared; minor tears to maps with no loss of material; “Carta idrografica ed itineraria della Sicilia Citeriore”, to the rear of vol. 1, is detached but present and in good condition; hinges starting, slightly cracked; otherwise all-in-all a very good set. Carlo Afan de Rivera (1779-1852) was an Italian civil and military engineer in service of the Bourbon kings of the Two Sicilies (the city of Naples and its environs and the island of Sicily). In 1821 he was appointed director of the Corpo di Ponti e Strade, Acque, Foreste e Caccia del Regno delle Due Sicilie. He is especially important for having promoted the economic possibilities offered by the landscape, geology and natural environment of Naples and Sicily; it is this cause that is expounded in the text of this three-volume set. Text in Italian.
