Campi Phlegraei

Observations on the two volcanoes of the two Sicilies - Sir William Hamilton

Printed in Naples in 1776

The author Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803) diplomat, archaeologist and husband of Emma Hamilton of Nelson fame, was appointed British envoy at the court of Naples in 1764. There he spent most of his leisure studying volcanic phenomena and collecting antiquities.

Hamilton made no fewer than twenty-two ascents of Vesuvius. His descriptions of volcanic activity were published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society between 1766-80.

Campi Phlegraei, with fifty-four hand-coloured plates after Pietro Fabris, an artist trained to work by Hamilton, was published in two volumes in Naples in 1776 and a supplement in 1779.