Mantha Zarmakoupi (ed.), The Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum: Archaeology, Reception, and Digital Reconstruction

Mantha Zarmakoupi (ed.), The Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum: Archaeology, Reception, and Digital Reconstruction. Sozomena: studies in the recovery of ancient texts: edited on behalf of the Herculaneum Society, 1.   Berlin/New York:  Walter de Gruyter, 2010.  Pp. ix, 221, 78 p. of plates.  ISBN 9783110203882.  $147.00/€98.00.   

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Reviewed by Jan P. Stronk, Oude Geschiedenis – Universiteit van Amsterdam (j.p.stronk@uva.nl)
Table of Contents.
This volume presents ten contributions by various authors on different aspects of the ‘Villa of the Papyri’ at Herculaneum, including investigation of the villa itself and of objects recovered from it. The first two chapters focus on new research (including the first open air excavations) conducted on the villa between the mid 1980s and 2009. Next follow two chapters on the wall paintings and the sculptural collection; two more chapters deal with questions related with the papyri recovered in the Villa; and two chapters discuss the reception of the Villa in the 18th century (when the building was first discovered and explored) and the 20th century. Two chapters on its real and on its virtual reconstruction conclude the contributions. The volume is the result of an Oxford conference held in 2007; all contributions are in English, with two chapters translated from the original Italian. Though the volume is clearly not aimed at a general audience, it is suitable for an informed readership from undergraduate level onwards. The blurb itself on the publisher’s website informs us that this volume is aimed at “Academics, Libraries, Institutes.” This is a noncommittal phrase. Nevertheless, the book is a welcome addition to the literature available on Herculaneum in general and the ‘Villa dei Papiri’ in particular.

etc at BMCR