The book assigned to me, Delle fortificazioni di Buonaiuto Lorini, nobile fiornetino, which was published in Venice in 1597, is about the project of fortification of the walls of the city of Venice. Buonaiuto Lorini wrote this work to illustrate to the Lord of Venice (Doge Marino Grimani) how to proceed in order to fortify the city walls and to make the republic of Venice a safe place and an avant-garde commercial center.
The masterpiece is structured in five volumes and each of them deals a different topic; in turn, the volumes are divided into chapters (Vol. 1 in 18 chapters, Vol. 2 in 13 chapters, Vol. 3 in 17 chapters, Vol. 4 in 8 chapters and Vol. 5 in 27 chapters). At the end there is the schedule of the work, which includes a premise, where, in the following order, we find : the definitions of what is dealt within each volume, a dedication to the Lord of Venice, a dedication to the readers, an index of the chapters and an index of the most notable things analyzed in the masterpiece.
The book, which includes all 5 volumes, has a size of 37.3 cm x 26.6 cm x 2.8 cm, which, translated into measures of standard books, corresponds to the size “Folio”.
The five volumes together are made by 219 pages, not considering the preface and the afterword of course (Vol. 1 1-104, Vol. 2 105-136, Vol. 3 137-153, Vol. 4 154-170, Vol. 5 171-219). These five volumes also boast a total of 156 illustrations, which are mainly concentrated in the last volume.