Mandragora – serie

Equipped with all you need to know on the history and traditions of the Chianti region, you will be guided on half-day or full-day drives out from Radda in Chianti and Gaiole in Chianti. Four itineraries with maps and commentary will lead you through historic sites and stunning landscape - with places to stop for an espresso, a leisurely lunch, an ice cream snack, some shopping, and a superb dinner.

Part of the "Library on Display" series devoted to exhibitions held at the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence, this book is divided into two sections - the Papyrus Collection and the Manuscript collection. Between two intentionally striking extremes - a potsherd on which a pupil from the 2nd century BC wrote the ancient verses of one of Sappho's odes and a 19th century Japanese erotic-grotesque scroll - the entries illustrate the relationship between book form and function, describing manuscripts of different formats and periods, from wax tablets and literary and documentary papyrus rolls to medieval and Renaissance parchment (and subsequently paper) codices from production centres ranging from the imperial scriptorium in Constantinople to high-quality workshops in Italy (particularly 15th century Florence), Europe and Asia, including examples of pocket and giant Bibles.The introductory essay by Guglielmo Cavallo offers a brief overview of the history of the book, a field in which his expertise are virtually unparalleled.

Father Andrew, an artist and priest of the Archdiocese of New York, recounts his impressions during a peripatetic retreat in Tuscany some years ago, under the guidance of Timothy Verdon an art historian and Catholic priest. Timothy Verdon’s hope was to help the listeners open to the spiritual as well as aesthetic beauty of the buildings, sculptures and paintings seen and Father Andrew’s book tells that something of this sort happened, at least in his case. A Tuscan Résumé is an ‘inspired’ work, in response to the same Spirit that touched the architects and artists whose masterpieces Father Andrew describes.

This is a colourful and entertaining survival kit for teenagers visiting (or living in) Florence. It was thought up, written and designed in collaboration with Amici Musei Fiorentini.