fine 19th century newspaper images

[joetucciarone]

Illustrations are very rare in Italian newspapers published during the 1870s. An exception was Il Secolo, a 19th century Milan newspaper archived by the Florida State University Libraries:

https://fsu.digital.flvc.org/islandora/ ... secolomain
https://fsu.digital.flvc.org/islandora/ ... u%3A156155

Unlike most archives, Florida State provides high-resolution scans of Il Secolo, many featuring high-quality illustrations of politicians, maps, and even machinery. For example, the June 6, 1871 edition featured a portrait of Francesco Crispi, a close friend of Garibaldi and a major supporter of the Risorgimento:

https://fsu.digital.flvc.org/islandora/ ... 1/mode/2up

A detailed portrait of Giuseppe Mazzini appeared in the March 12, 1872 issue. He was an important figure in Italian Unification, and his nickname was “the beating heart of Italy”:

https://fsu.digital.flvc.org/islandora/ ... 1/mode/2up

Il Secolo also published many historic maps, like this depiction of the Paris fortifications published during the Franco-Prussian War:

https://fsu.digital.flvc.org/islandora/ ... 1/mode/2up

Another map shows the area around the ancient Roman amphitheater in Milan. Most of the buildings in this drawing, published on January 10, 1873, no longer exist:

https://fsu.digital.flvc.org/islandora/ ... 1/mode/2up

These are high-resolution scans and each page takes about 20 seconds to load, but the quality of the images is worth the wait.

[MarcuccioV]

Awesome..!