Viaggio in Dalmazia [...].

2 pts in 1 vol., 4to: viii-180, xlvii-[1-2 bl.]-204 pp.; 15 pl.

Contemp. vellum, flat spine (rubbed). Very good copy.

First edition of this work on Venetian Dalmatia where the naturalist and cartographer Fortis (1741-1803) travelled from 1771 to 1774. Written in the form of letters sent to high scientific and cultural personalites from Italy and Europe, it contains information on the ethnography, history, economy, costumes, etc. and also on the Morlachs, a rural Christian community in Herzegovina, Lika and the Dalmatian Hinterland. It contains the Italian translation of their traditional ballad "Hasanaginica", text unknown until then. In fact, this work would start a new movement in Italian, Ragusan and Venetian literature, the "Morlachism", consisting in portraying the Morlachs and their customs, traditions and lifestyle by Italian and other Western Europe writers. This movement ended in the 1830s or 1840s. Illustrated with 15 fold. plates depicting maps, costumes, views, plans and geological specimens; one headpiece to dedication of part II showing a medal with portrait of dedicatee Antonio Veranzio. Fortis' work had a great renown and was translated in French, English and German.
Ref. Poggendorf I:778. - Cp. Blackmer 599 (1st English ed., 1778). - Cp. Lipperheide 877 (German ed., 1776).