Italy [antikvár]

PREFACE We have recently flxed up a new method for composing The Hachette World Guide and the favourable reception met by this new and original plan, has induced us to adopt it for the Guide to Italy which we now have great pleasure in presenting to the public. The work is entirely new, both in form and in content. We are indebted to two of the most experienced members of our éditorial team for carrying out a methodical and exhaustive survey of Italy amd its artistic treasures. Mlle Magdelaine Parisot is responsible for Sections One and Two of the Guide, possibly the most important as they contain the descriptions of Rome, Venice and Florence; she has also undertaken the delicate task of editing the whole volume. Sections Three and Four—except for Route no. 54—were compiled and written by M. Jacques Legros, who also wrote Routes nos. 26,28, 30, 31, 38, 39, 40, and 43 in Sections One and Two. The móst difflcult task facing the two authors was undoubtedly that of choosing from among an enormous number of historical sites and centres of artistic and cultural importance, and to give due attention to the transport pro-blems involved in reaching the main places of interest. This English édition was prepared by M. M. N. Clark and M. J. S. Hardman. We have attempted to meet the requirements of the modern tourist for succinct, précisé and accurate iniormation, obtainable at a mo-ment's notice. We have thus retained our usual pattern of description of a country, i. e. dividing it into a number of main routes, but we have also added a complete alphabetical index at the back of the book, which not only contains all the practical information likely to be required, but also gives the page reference for a more detailed description of items of historical and artistic interest, in the main body of the text. The Guide would, of course, be incomplete without an introductory section designed to give the reader a clear idea of the most important historical and cultural developments that have taken place in Italy. We should like to express here our gratitude to the eminent figures who have contributed essays to the preliminary section : M. René Clozier, Inspecteur Général de l'Instruction Publique, and Professor at the Insitute of Town Planning at the University of Paris ; M. Pierre Grimai, Professor at the Sorbonne; M. Maurice Vaussard, Lecturer at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes; M. Gérald Gassiot-Talabot; and M. Pierre Petit, a winner of the Rome Grand Prix and a director of Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française. We should also like to take this opportunity of thanking the direc-tors and stafi of numerous Italian tourist organisations, who have shown unfailing courtesy in meeting thé sometimes exacting inquiries of the editors; most particularly, the staff of Municipal Tourist Offices in the main cities, who provided the material which enabled M. Gilbert Woivré, the head of the Map Section of Hachette's World Guides, to draw up an entirely new series of town-plans. The present Guide, therefore, combines for the first time two com-plementary kinds of information, and includes material derived from the work of the most exacting modem scholarship. We are convinced that this Guide will quickly become an indispensable companion for all who wish to acquire a thorough knowledge of Italy, her people and her civilisation. Francis Ambriere, Director of the Hachette World Guides.