Description
Melitensia Book club Issue 1
ABELA, Commendatore Fra Gian. Francesco, Della descrittione di Malta isola nel mare siciliano con le sue antichità, ed altre notizie. Libr. Quattro. Fasimile edition. Malta 1984.
Della Descrittione di Malta Isola Nel Mare Siciliano con le sue antichità, ed altre notitie, is the earliest known work on the history of the Maltese Islands. It was written by Comm. G. Fran. Abela after life-long research and published in 1647 by Paolo Bonacota at the newly introduced printing press of the Order of St John. It contained 573 pages and also included in its various illustrations, a map of the Maltese Islands and an elaborate frontispiece by Bonamico.
In 1772 Count Ciantar published it again in a new and enlarged edition in two volumes. Translations and adaptations in abridged forms appeared in various other editions. In 1660 it was published in Germany as Malta Vetus et Nova by Burchardus Nerderstatt. In 1725 Thesaurus Antiquatitum et Historiarum Siciliae, (Lynden), included it in volume XV in a translation by Johannes Antonius Seinerus. In 1781 Chev. St-Priest admitted to have used Abela’s material for his French version of a short history of Malta.
The idea of printing a new impression of Della descrittione di Malta had been the publishers’ dream since its first edition went out of print soon after1647. In 1745 Can G.P. Agius de Soldanis, a librarian and historian, had expressed the need of a second impression. A century later this wish nearly materialized with the imprint of John Stocher. But its printing was left unfinished.
Thanks to the new techniques in typography Midsea Books Ltd (Malta) was able to realize this dream. The aim is to make Abela’s great work more accessible to scholars. But it is also intended for those collectors of Melitensia Books who find it difficult to include in their collection rare and expensive copies of important original works
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