My friends at Angelus Press sent me a copy of A Pilgrims Guide to Romes Principal Churches by Fr. Father Tylenda, SJ. Softcover, $29.95.
This is a handsome and useful book for anyone who is going to go to Rome and plans to visit churches, or who will be living in Rome for a while.
The book covers 51 important Roman churches, giving a history and description of each so that you are sure to see the most important features. It includes floor plans and many photos.
In the back of the book you find a bibliography, glossary, and an index of artists. The artist index is useful if you are trying to hunt down, say, all the painting by Guido Reni found in churches (a few are in museums).
I can tell that most of the photos are fairly recent, too, given the glimpses of scaffolds and cars and fashions. You don’t see, as in some books, cars from 1955.
The book is a softcover, and it really does flex and bend well. The cover is tough and the paper should be durable. It is made to be hauled around. The only drawback is that it is a little heavy. But the positives outweigh that point.
You could consider this as a Christmas gift to someone heading to Rome.
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BTW, a sample chapter (on St John Lateran) is at:
http://www.angeluspress.org/uploads/itempdf1956.pdf
Ahh!
Thank you Father.
The great Angelus Press comes through yet again.
Does anyone know of a church in Rome that has a side altar dedicated to St. Elizabeth of Hungary?
Father Z! I am one of the photographers whose photography was published in this book! :) :)
Very pretty sample chapter. But frankly, it is more of an art student’s guide than a pilgrim’s guide. The relics that make this church so great are scarcely mentioned.
Was the author from Australia? That second picture has a different viewpoint than most. =)
It will be under our tree this Christmas….THANK YOU so much for the heads up!!!
Although dated, I love Georgina Masson’s books on Rome. Here is a link to some http://www.allbookstores.com/Georgina-Masson/author
I would love to read this new one.
I first bought this book in anticipation of my first trip to Rome in 1994. It has accompanied me every time I’ve gone since, and goes out with me almost every time I wander around the city. It is, in my humble opinion, the BEST guide book for those 50 churches. My copy is being held together with tape, the pages are scribbled with notes I added through the years (among them, the move of Bl. John XXIII upstairs and the tomb of John Paul II to John 23rd’s previous locale). It is a must for anyone visiting Rome and I am elated it has been reprinted.
I own an older edition of this book (1993), which has the floorplan diagrams but no photos. So I am pleased to see a new edition with photographs. I will probably never be able to afford a trip to Rome, so I will buy this book and enjoy these churches as an armchair traveler!