Magick City: Travellers to Rome from the Middle Ages to 1900

A vivid collage-portrait of Rome - three parts complete in one volume – the most comprehensive anthology of writings by visitors to the eternal city ever compiled.

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The most comprehensive anthology of writings by visitors to the eternal city ever compiled – witty, profound and endlessly entertaining.

Drawing on French, Italian, Spanish, English, German, Scandinavian and American sources, Ronald Ridley has compiled a vivid collage-portrait of Rome through the centuries, illustrated with nearly three hundred images.


This hardback edition brings together its three volumes in one: The Middles Ages to the Seventeenth Century, The Eighteenth Century and The Nineteenth Century.


How did visitors arrive? Where did they stay? What were their expenses? What did they see of churches, palaces, villas and antiquities? What did they like or dislike of what they saw? What did they think of Rome in all its contemporary facets? What events did they witness? What portraits do they provide of people in Rome at the time of their visit? Excerpts from memoirs by more than two hundred visitors give a myriad of fascinating insights and together provide a detailed account of Rome over nearly a millennium.