Letter by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, from Rome, to Robert Mylne, in London, dated 11 Nov 1760: accompanied by an incomplete English translation, page 1

NOTES: In the letter Piranesi thanks Robert Mylne for making his engravings known in England; he is very interested in Blackfriars Bridge and asks for an exact copy of the design to be sent to him [and produced an engraving of the bridge in 1766, see RIBA13018]; gives news from Rome and refers to a delay in the publication of his work, "On the Magnificence and Architecture of the Romans"; he has been measuring and drawing the columns and entablatures under restoration at the Campo Vacino monument in Rome [the Temple of Jupiter in the Forum, now called Castor and Pollux]; prompted by the comments of [Jean Antionne] Morand, a French painter, he stresses the need for accuracy and observes that there is a want of accuracy in Desgodetz' work; George Dance [the younger] has been taking casts of parts of the monument; Piranesi has also been measuring and drawing the amphitheatre at Castrense which was being excavated.