Chicago: Follett Publishing Company, 1969. Item #1534

Large 8vo. 285 x 225 mm., [11 ¼ x 8 ¾ inches]. 160 pp. With eighty-eight black and white photographs as well as a map of Florence on November 4th, 1966 printed on the front and back endpapers. Publishers’ white cloth over boards with gilt lettering on the spine; illustrated unclipped dust jacket. Book is Good: cloth is slightly stained; corners bumped; faint water stains along the bottom edge of the text block but otherwise fairly clean with the photographs unaffected. Jacket is Good: substantial chipping along the top and bottom edges especially at the head of the spine and on the corners. Overall, a sound copy.

First Edition. Howard Greenfeld (1928-2006) was an American biographer, writer and editor. He worked as an assistant editor at Random House under Bennett Cerf before moving to Florence in 1956 where he founded Orion Press. The present work centers around the 1966 flood of the Arno which killed thirty-five people and destroyed a substantial portion of the city’s artistic masterpieces and rare books. Greenfeld documents the tumult of those tragic days as well as the long and difficult process of recovering the damaged objects and buildings that had been housed in Florence’s churches, museums and State Archives. Through interviews with restoration experts and scientists and with the help of extensive contemporary photographs, he attempts to show his readers the massive effort needed to bring back the city’s cultural heritage.

Price: $35.00