But the scientific study of the geography of Italy began after 1870. Before this period, good regional works appeared, even if the prevalent influence of a statistical conception of geography is not infrequently perceived in them ( Notizie topografiche and statistics on Sardinian states by De Bartolomeis, 1860-67; Natural and civil news on Lombardy by C. Cattaneo, 1844 Large illustration of Lombardy – Veneto by Cesare Cantù, 1858-62; Statistical – historical essay of the Papal State by G. Calindri , 1829; Description statistique physique … de la Sardaigne by A. De la Marmora, etc.), and excellent regional dictionaries (by G. Casalis for the Sardinian States, 1833-36; by E. Repetti for Tuscany, 1833-46; by L. Giustiniani for the realm of Naples, 1793-1805, etc.); but there are also general works on the whole of Italy: among them the excellent Prodrome of the Natural History of Italy by FC Marmocchi (1844) deserve special mention; the Chorography of Italy by C. Rampoldi (1833-34); the work of equal title by Fabi (1854) and the monumental historical and statistical chorography of Italy and its islands by A. Zuccagni-Orlandini (1840-45) in 12 volumes, with an atlas of 690 papers (5 volumes ).
After the political unification of Italy, the geographical knowledge of the country benefited above all from the work of public offices and government bodies. In the forefront the Military Geographical Institute (see Florence, XV, p. 460) to which we owe the topographical map of the Kingdom of Italy at a scale of 1: 100,000 (with the original reliefs at 50,000 and 25,000), completed in 1902 and extended to the territories annexed after the World War (323 sheets); then the hydrographic institute of the R. Marina, to which we owe the survey of the coasts and the bathymetric study of the seas; the R. Geological Office, which provides the geological map of Italy at 100,000, not yet finished; the R. Central Office of Meteorology and Geophysics which collects and coordinates all the fundamental data for the study of the climate; the various offices dependent on the Ministry of Public Works, organized into a single large hydrographic service, for research on continental waters (rivers and lakes); the R. Thalassographic Committee, more recently established; finally the R. Central Statistical Institute,Italian Statistical Yearbook , a Monthly Bulletin , the Land Registry , etc. The Royal Italian Geographic Society founded in 1867, the Italian Alpine Club (1878) and the Italian Touring Club (1894) also contributed to the advancement of geographical knowledge of Italy.
According to COUNTRYVV.COM, the work of individual scholars cannot of course be examined here. Still throughout the century. XIX, more than to specialized geographers, the studies of whose results the knowledge of our country benefits, are due to geologists, volcanologists (volcanology can indeed be said to have arisen in Italy in the last century), plumbers, statisticians . But the new currents of geography penetrated Italy and found an ever wider following at the end of the 19th century, above all thanks to the work of Giuseppe Dalla Vedova and Giovanni and Olinto Marinelli: research on morphology (on the Alps and later also on the Apennines); those on karst phenomena; on glaciers, today coordinated by a specific body, the Italian Glaciological Committee; on the lakes; on the climate; later and with less organic orientation, those on the rivers and seas of Italy. Anthropogeographic research also developed, first inspired by the concepts of F. Ratzel and the French anthropogeographers, but then aimed at original addresses, especially by O. Marinelli. The chorographic works also multiply and show more and more the application of strictly geographic criteria and methods. Production in the field of economic geography still appears to be more scattered and uncoordinated. The work of foreign geographers also contributes significantly to the advancement of knowledge.
Overall, in our days both the materials offered in the various amps by the aforementioned public bodies and the studies and particular researches have multiplied so much that the composition of synthetic works on the geography of Italy appears extremely difficult. At the dawn of the century XX appeared two of these works particularly worthy of mention, namely the volume (fourth) dedicated to Italy in the great geographical treatise La Terra directed by G. Marinelli; and the Italian Peninsula of T. Fischer, in whose Italian remaking (1902) our scholars validly collaborated. Similar attempts at synthesis were subsequently not repeated, but certain general works appeared which constitute a valuable preparatory basis: among them theAtlas of Geographical Types of Italy by O. Marinelli (1922) and the Italian Touring Club Italian Guide. A copious systematic bibliography of all the geographic writings concerning Italy is published annually by the R. Italian Geographic Society; The oldest bibliography included in the Bibliographie géographique annuelle (Paris) and the periodic reviews of Gotha ‘s Geographisches Jahrbuch are also of great help. The national geographic congresses, which are held every three years (since 1892) and whose proceedings are published regularly, are a valid impetus for the progress of geographic studies on Italy.
