Scope and Content of Collection

The collection consists of 97 prints of views of the city of Rome, dating 1589 to circa 1860, from the library of Anna Laetitia Pecci-Blunt (1885-1971).

The majority of the prints (over 50) were printed in Rome and executed by Italian printmakers, while others were issued in Antwerp, Augsburg, London, Milan, Naples and Paris. Printmakers particularly well represented in this collection include Agostino Penna, Bartolomeo Pinelli, Antonio Sarti and Israël Silvestre. There are also prints by Stefano della Bella, Giovanni Maggi, and Giovanni Battista Falda.

Anna Laetitia Pecci-Blunt marked many of the prints in her collection with her collector's marks. Small, circular marks found on the recto of the prints, typically in the lower right corner, display a small comet, encircled with the text: "Coll. C.ssa A. L. Pecci Blunt." Circular marks on the verso of the prints, typically in the lower center, denote Pecci-Blunt's name for her collection, "Roma Sparita." The stamps contain the text; "Roma Sparita, N....," (with space for adding an inventory number), encircled with additional text "Collezione Contessa Anna Laetitia Pecci-Blunt." Five prints from Pecci-Blunt's collection also bear the collector's mark of Alessandro Castagnari (1881-1940) (Lugt 86a).

Arrangement

Organized in four series: Series I. General views of Rome, 1642-circa 1860; Series II. Sites and monuments, 1619-circa 1851, undated; Series III. Papal ceremonial, 1589-circa 1846; Series IV. Suites of prints, 1817-circa 1850.