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entire which remain ; there are many other curious 
pieces of architecture, some antiquities, and a few 
pictures in Verona. | 
June 2nd we went through Mantua (chiefly re- 
markable for being the birth-place of Virgil) to 
Guastalla, where we slept, and next day (Sunday) 
dined in Parma, which is an extremely handsome 
well-built town and very neat; it abounds in officers 
and abbés. The Duke, cousin to the King of Spain, 
always resides here: we saw the Duchess, a fine 
stately woman. Correggio’s paintings (which are 
only to be seen here in perfection), although few, 
are well worth going a great way to see ; one or 
two of them, I think, are among the best pictures 
of Italy: he excels in grace and in colouring. Here 
is a noble public library, established by the Duke ; 
the first librarian is father Affo,a capuchin, known by 
many biographical and historical works. We hada 
letter to him from the elder Mr. Durazzo, and he has 
been very civil. The royal printing-office is one of 
the greatest curiosities in Parma, as that art is here 
carried infinitely beyond what has ever been done 
before, or perhaps ever will again; for the genius, 
the taste, and the application of the director are 
immense: he gave us some specimens of his work, 
the most exquisitely elegant things I ever saw. 
This printing-press is now only beginning to be 
known in England. The famous theatre, built by 
the Farnese family when sovereigns here, is the 
largest in the world ; the pit used to be filled with 
water to represent sea-fights : it is now disused on 
account of its size and the great expense of light- 
R 2 
