The Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae Digital Collection at the University of Chicago Library

[First posted in AWOL 20 December 2012, updated 26 February 2021]

The Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae Digital Collection

The Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae is a collection of engravings of Rome and Roman antiquities, the core of which consists of prints published by Antonio Lafreri and gathered under a title page he printed in the mid-1570's. Copies of the Speculum vary greatly in the number of prints, and individual prints were reissued and changed over time.

The University of Chicago Library's copy of the Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae contains nearly 1,000 prints and is the largest in the world. The Library's copy arrived in the 1890's as a part of the Berlin Collection, a large lot of books and manuscripts purchased for the Library from S. Calvary and Co. in Berlin.

A list of sources from the 1973 catalog is available here.

Introduction
Antonio Lafreri's Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae and the digital collection.

Itineraries
Choose a virtual itinerary to explore the collection, with an expert as your guide.

Search and Browse
Search and browse the collection.