General subject of the book:
‘Theatrum basilicae Pisanae, in quo praecipuae illius partes enarrationibus, iconibusque ostenduntur’ is a book written in Latin by Giuseppe (often Joseph) Martini and published in 1705. A second edition was published in 1728. The book is written in the first-person perspective of Giuseppe Martini and is addressed to the emperor. Its idea is to explain and legitimize the basilica in Pisa and show how it was built, that’s also the reason why there are many detailed illustrations made with copper plates.
Organisation of the book:
The book has 20 chapters, each chapter concentrates more precisely on the different parts of the basilica and explain why it was made like that. Each chapter starts with an initial cap and ends with a small drawing (not counted in the amount of illustrations). The first chapter starts with a drawing of a crown as the book was written for the king.
It has 178 pages of which on 20 pages is the index and appendix. There are 33 copper plates/illustrations that are mostly showing sectional views of the basilica. The text is always in two columns and each illustration takes the whole page.
Size of the book:
430mm : 295 mm : ca. 60mm –> book size: folio