Theodolite

The etching depicts a complex "equatorial machine", a geodesic instrument suitable for geographic measurements built on commission by the watchmaker Giuseppe Fiore in 1779 on behalf of the Neapolitan Francesco Mango, known as Father Eliseo della Concezione (Naples, 1725-1809), Father Provincial and later Procurator General of the Order of Discalced Carmelites in the city. A learned and ingenious scholar, he devoted himself constantly to research, particularly in the experimental field of physics and cartography, and solidly linked his scientific activity to the Royal Academy of Science and Letters, founded in Naples by Ferdinand IV of Borbone in 1780.

Eliseo was part of the commission sent to Calabria following the catastrophic earthquake that devastated the region on February 5, 1783.

Engraving taken from the  Istoria de' fenomeni del tremoto avvenuto nelle Calabrie, e nel Valdemone nell'anno 1783. Posta in luce dalla Reale Accademia delle Scienze, e delle Belle Lettere di Napoli. Naples: Giuseppe Campo, 1784.

Plate taken from the Istoria de' fenomeni illustrate the ruinous Calabrian earthquake of 1783 and were commissioned by the Neapolitan Royal Acadamy to a group of scientists, including Sarconi himself, Angiolo Fasano, Nicolò Pacifico, Padre Eliseo della Concezione and Antonio Minasi, as well as the architects and draughtsmen Pompeo Schiantarelli, Ignazio Stile and Bernardino Rulli. The expedition left Naples on 5th April 1783, and in 1784 the account of their findings was published by Campo, making it the first scientific expedition on the consequences of an earthquake ever to be organised in Italy. The earthquake shook Calabria and the eastern part of Sicily for more than three years with several tremors, including 5 which registered grade XI on Mercalli's scale. More than 30,000 people died, hundreds of villages were destroyed, mountains collapsed, rivers changed their course creating new lakes, and even the coastline was reshaped.

Copperplate, printed on contemporary laid paper, small moisture stain in lower central part, otherwise in excellent condition. Engraved by Antonio Zaballi after a drawing by Pompeo Schiantarelli.