Le antichità romane; is the title of the book. It was first published in 1756 and reveals the different styles of the antique living standard of the roman people. Everything is described and shown in detailed drawings.
A list of contents is not found but instead a large and detailed drawing of a temple is. There are a lot of large drawings, which reflect the enormous and extravagant style of this time. Other than temples there are columns, cornices, ornaments and many more different kinds of constructions.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi was born in Venice and was an architect, worked as an archaeologist and lived the major part of his life in rome. Therefor he examined the roman style.
The book has a size of 513mmx414mm and is therefor rather large. This is compatible with the large drawings inside of it, which are made of ink and contain sometimes little texts.
In general the book speaks loudly and clearly and the message it wants to deliver is very clear. This is obtained by the size, style and details of the drawings. Sometimes you can even open the drawings like a letter, therefore they get even bigger than the book itself.
Not all drawings deliver the same message as some are more an analysis and some for show off.
The cover being descret and not extravagant itself, serves as indicator of not being too overwhelming but still having a lot in the inside. It fortifies the quote; Don’t judge a book by its cover.