70 Garden Literature of Italy. 



Art. IV. The Garden Literature of Italy. By Signore Giuseppe 

 Manetti, ot" the Administration of the Imperial and Royal Gar- 

 dens, Monza, near Milan. 



The delay in sending you the list of Italian authors who have written on 

 gardening was occasioned by the difficulty I experienced in obtaining biogra- 

 phical notices of all those authors ; and, notwithstanding the careful research 

 which I have made, assisted by a learned friend interested in the subject, I have 

 found much less information than probably you expected. 



1. Peter CVescfjzzz, senator of Bologna; born 1230, died 1312. In conse- 

 quence of his Opus Ruraliuvi Commodorum, which he wrote, he is considered 

 as the restorer of the art of agriculture of the thirteenth centur}'. The above- 

 named work is divided into twelve books, eight of which are consecrated to 

 gardening; it has been translated anonymously into Italian by so excellent a 

 hand, as to be considered a text-book of the language. 



2. Marino Angionese published in terza rima, // Giardino, in tre Parti diviso, 

 " The Garden, divided into three Parts." Naples, 1490. 



3. M. Bartholomew Taegio wrote the dialogue Za Villa, "The Villa;" a 

 work dedicated to the most excellent and renowned Emperor Ferdinand I. 

 Printed by Francis Moscheni, Milan, 1539, in4to. Taegio does not, however, 

 treat of the art of gardening, but of the pleasures of the villa ; and names a 

 vast number of gardens situated in Milan and its vicinity, sometimes mentioning 

 the trees and flowers found in them. 



4. Mark Bussato published, in 1592, It Giardino di Agricoltura, " The Gar- 

 den of Agriculture;" in which he treats of all that is necessary for a gardener 

 to know. Venice, by Fiorino, 1592. 



5. Joseph Falcone wrote La nuova, vaga, e dilettevole Villa, " The new, 

 beautiful, and delightful Villa." Venice, 1601, 8vo. 



6. M. John Baptist Barpo of Belluno published Le Delizie ed i Frutti dell* 

 Agricoltura e delta Villa, " The Delights and the Fruits of Agriculture and the 

 Villa." In three books, explained in particular descriptions. Venice, 1634, 

 Sarzina. The last twelve descriptions consist of flower and kitchen gardens. 



7. Father John Baptist Ferrari. Born at Siena; entered the Society of 

 Jesuits in 1607 ; was made professor of Hebrew in the college at Rome. Fer- 

 rari wrote the Flora, seu de Florum Cultura. Rome, 1633, 4to. This treatise 

 is divided into four books, and translated from Latin into Italian by Lewis 

 Aurelius Perugino. Rome, Falcioli, 1638, with plates by Guido Reni, Peter 

 Berrettini of Cortona, and Andrew Sacchi, A rather scarce book. Ferrari also 

 wrote the Hesperides, sive Malorum aiireorum Cultura, in four books. Rome, 

 1646 ; in folio, with 101 copperplates, engraved by Bloemaerk. 



8. Friar Augustine Alandirola wrote Manuale dei Giardinieri, " Manual for 

 Gardeners," in four books ; in which is taught, 1. the method of cultivating 

 rare bulbs ; 2. the cultivation of flowers with roots (herbaceous plants ?^ ; 

 3. the method of propagating the orange and citron tribe. Vicenza, by Rosso, 

 1652. This work is extracted from the Florum Cultura of Father Ferrari. 



9. Bartliolomeiv Clarici wrote Istoria e Coltura delle Piante, " History and 

 Cultivation of Plants." Venice, 1726. " "We have in Italy some authors 

 who have written well on the cultivation of flowers ; but none better or more 

 extensively, and with more perspicuity, than Clarici. His treatise on the 

 orange and citron tribe, which forms the fourth part, is a work unique of its 

 sort." Thus speaks Philip Re of Clarici, as related by Bartholomew Gamba, 

 in his work, Serie dei Testi di Lingua Italiana, " Series of the Standard Works 

 of the Italian Language, &c." Venice, 1828. 



10. Philip Arena published Delta Natura e Coltura de* Fiori, " On the Na- 

 ture and Culture of Flowers." Palermo, 1768, in three volumes, with many 

 plates.* Arena is the best Italian florist whom the eighteenth century has 



* It is a singular circumstance, which cannot be accounted for, that the 

 work of Arena has three different titlepages. In one, with the date Palermo, 



