Inside the book

The book opens with an explanation of the occasion for the work: while describing painted Greek vases in the Royal Museum, De Jorio found gestures depicted on them that were still performed in Naples. It then defines the project as a specimen of "linguaggio mimico" (mimicry), while insisting that mimic action is not language in the strict sense. The alphabetic body runs from Abbiccì de' Gesti (ABC of Gestures) through over a hundred headings, including Beffeggiare (Mockery), Corna (Horns), Far le corna (Making the Horns), Danaro (Money), Mano in fica (Fig Hand), Iettatura (Evil Eye), Amuleto (Amulet), and Schioppetto (Pistol). Under Danaro (Money), thumb and forefinger rubbed together become a comparative test: Mason and Thomas Maguire of Quebec perform the same sign and report its use among Indigenous peoples of Canada. Five indices follow, covering titles, plates, gestures, significations, and monuments newly explained. The first 16 aquatint plates were executed by Gaetano Gigante after drawings by the Baron Clugny de Nuis, as stated in the "Avis aux lecteurs," where the Baron himself describes the scenes as "Bambocciate," thus associating them with the seventeenth-century movement in Rome that specialized in small-scale, often earthy scenes of everyday street life. In fact they show staged Neapolitan street scenes with dialect captions, including "Chi aggio da servire?" (Whom shall I serve?), "Benedica" (Bless you), and "Te faccio na fica" (I'll give you the fig)"; the remaining 5 plates give outline engravings after antique vase paintings and analytical sheets of isolated hands and heads.