We are leaving in two weeks and I cannot find a copy of the Blue Guide to Rome anywhere! Seems the 8th edition is now out of print but the 9th isn't due until mid-April. Anyone have any suggestions on where I might get a used 8th edition? Amazon, etc yielded nothing - it looks like they have it but then when you go to buy, they say shipping in 4 weeks (meaning the 9th edition when it comes out). Thanks!

Try www.abebooks.com or www.powells.com.

profpeabody: If you can't find it, PM me or respond here. I am right around the corner from a Barnes & Noble and if they have one on the shelf, (and I know they did a month ago) I will buy it and send it to you. Or, I can send you my copy of the 8th Edition. I won't be taking it with me to Italy in April, so you are welcome to it.

Try your local library.....

Or pick up a copy of the Companion Guide to Rome....in my opinion, almost as complete and a darn sight more readable than the Blue Guide.

And for more insight and even more graceful prose, find a copy of H.V. Morton's "A Traveler in Rome".

You won't miss the Blue Guide, I bet.

Stella - what a nice offer. I sent you a PM. Jim - I am not familiar with the H.V. Morton book. Is it an oldie but goodie like the Companian Guide?

The H.V. Morton is, indeed, an oldie but goodie, but with a heavily Britannic slant that I occasionally find wearisome. Half of his discussion of St. Peter's Basilica seems centered on the Stuarts who are buried there.

The Companion Guide to Rome is more than an oldie but goodie. It is the most authoritative guide to Rome with which I am familiar. It has, moreover, been updated many times since Georgina Masson's first edition was issued in 1966.

quote:

The H.V. Morton is, indeed, an oldie but goodie, but with a heavily Britannic slant that I occasionally find wearisome

As with most everything else, people will have different reactions based on personal taste and preferences. For my money, no one writes with more grace and casual erudition about Italy and things Italian than H.V. Morton. For me, his books are indispensable.

And the most recent update of the Georgina Masson only improves on the original by providing up-to-date information about opening hours, etc. Also-for me--an indispensable resource....

I wouldn't say the same for the Blue Guide which I find useful in many cases but sometimes unreadable due to the dense and dry writing style.

My mother bought me this book(H.V. Morton-A Traveller in Rome) last year (for our first trip to Rome) and I LOVED it! I kept going back to it for more information. BTW my mother bought this book in very good condition from the library and only for a dollar!! I just now noticed the copyright is 1957. I do have the DK book on Rome, and it is really good but for reading I really enjoyed the Traveller in Rome very much.

Carole

These Blue guidesd must be popular. No one on ebay is selling anything recent even used. the only recent one is from 2001 and cost $58.
http://product.half.ebay.com/Blue-Guide-Rome_W0QQprZ1742129QQtgZinfo