Campi Phlegraei

Since my return to this country, in January 1773, I have continued with aſſiduity my obſervations upon Mount Veſuvius, and the many ancient Volcanick productions in this Neighborhood.

Every freſh remark confirms me in the opinion, which I have already communicated to the Royal Society, and which has been honor'd with a place in the Philoſophical tranſactions.

If the circuit I have deſcribed, can be fairly proved to owe it's very existence to Volcanick exploſions, at various, and in ſome parts at very remote periods, and be not meerly a country torn to pieces by ſubterraneous fires, as has been hitherto the generally received opinion, I flatter myself, I ſhall have open'd a new field for obſervation in this curious ſubject.

There is no doubt, but that the Neighborhood of an active Volcano, must ſuffer from time to time the most dire calamities, the natural attendants of earthquakes, and eruptions; Whole cities, with their inhabitants, are either buried under ſhowers of pumice ſtones and aſhes, or overwhelmed by rivers of liquid fire; others again are ſwept off in an inſtant, by torrents of hot water iſſuing from the mouth of the ſame Volcano, of which, in the very little we know of the History of Mount Veſuvius and Etna (the preſent active Vocanos of theſe Kingdoms) there are many examples; and the ruins of Herculaneum, Pompeii, Stabia, and Catania relate their ſad cataſtrophes in the most pathetick terms.

{Sir William Hamilton in the opening letter (May 1776) to the President of the Royal Society of London IN Vol. I of 'Campi Phlegraei : Observations on the Volcanos of the Two Sicilies as they have been Communicated to the Royal Society of London / by William Hamilton K.B. F.R.S., His Britannic Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Court of Naples'

"The area around Naples was known locally as the Campi Phlegraei,
or ‘flaming fields’, owing to the frequent and violent eruptions of Mount Vesuvius."

Map of Tyrrhenian Sea
[large version] [extra large version]

View of Naples from Pausilipo

View of Naples from sea shore

Mt. Vesuvius

Lava eruption on Mt. Vesuvius

Eruption on Mt. Vesuvius 1767 October 20

Night view of eruption of Mt. Vesuvius

"A aa lava flow (recognised by the broken surface texture) passes the observer's location on 11. May 1771 and reaches the sea at Resina. Note the steep, slowly advancing front of the flow. Pietro Fabris is amongst the spectators (below left) as is William Hamilton, who explains the view to other onlookers." [source]

Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, 1779 August 9

Top of Mt. Vesuvius

Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, 1779 August 8

Sailing ships in the Lipari Islands

Crater of Mt. Vesuvius

Crater of Mt. Vesuvius

Mt. Vesuvius eruption 1760 December 23

Stratum of Lava

Island of Ischia

Island of Ventotene

Eruption on island of Stromboli

Rock and marble from Mt. Vesuvius

Specimens from the crater of Mt. Vesuvius

Specimens of lava from Mt. Vesuvius

Volcanic rock from Solfatara

[click through to large and very large versions of the images]

"Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803), perhaps best-known today as the husband of Emma Hamilton, mistress of Admiral Lord Nelson, was in his own right a skilled diplomatist, a celebrated connoisseur and collector, and a respected natural historian. In his own time he was honoured in particular for his contributions to the study of volcanoes, acquiring the title ‘the modern Pliny’ for his studies of Vesuvius.

Hamilton arrived in Naples as British envoy to the Neapolitan royal court in 1764, and became fascinated by Vesuvius. Shortly after his arrival the volcano went into an eruptive phase that lasted until 1767, giving Hamilton ample opportunity to observe and report upon its behaviour.

Hamilton believed passionately in the importance of careful, direct observation of natural phenomena, and Campi Phlegraei is intended to make the various aspects of Vesuvius’s activity available to those unable to see the volcano directly themselves.

He ensured that Fabri’s illustrations were as accurate and detailed as possible, reflecting his aim of offering ’accurate and faithfull obſervations on the operations of nature, related with ſimplicity and truth’. The desire to view phenomena directly for oneself, and to form one’s own opinion on the basis of the evidence, can be seen as a central principle of the Enlightenment."
[The Volcanism Blog]

'Campi Phlegraei' was first published in 1776 with a supplementary volume released three years later covering the 1779 Vesuvius eruption. The first volume consists mainly of letters sent by Hamilton to the Royal Society with the majority of plates appearing in volume two. The sketches by Pietro Fabris were reproduced as sixty two engravings for the publication and were assiduously hand-coloured in gouache.

• All three volumes of 'Campi Phlegraei' are available from Claremont College Digital Libraries.
• Sir William Hamilton - Campi Phlegraei: Glasgow University Library Special Collections Department Book of the Month October, 2007. {the best background site}
• Volcanological phenomena in the paintings by Fabris and Hamilton.
• Campania Libraries - Land of Myth and History site from Georgetown University: Gallery One has other contemporary engraved plates of Mt Vesuvius.
• "CAMPANIA FELIX introduces the scholarly and academic public from a variety of disciplines to the rich traditions of Campania and the Phlegraean Fields. Covering both the ancient world & the afterlife of the traditions established in antiquity, which have continued to the modern day, focus is on the relationship between the topography of Campania, especially its volcanic nature, & the development of the mythological, literary & visual traditions of the region."
• 'Sir William Hamilton's Vesuvian Apparatus', 2004 by Bent Sorenson.
• History of Volcanology entries at The Volcanism Blog. {also: Volcanology art}
• The Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program.
• Wikipedia: Mt Vesuvius; Mt Etna; volcanology; Sir William Hamilton; Emma, Lady Hamilton.