Mémoires historiques sur Pie VI, [1799]

First edition.
In almost twenty-five years of pontificate, "Pius VI had time to engrave his name on many monuments in Rome", in the current Vatican museums or the Pio-Clementino museum.
The draining of the Pontine marshes, which he had undertaken, with the assistance of engineers from the Netherlands, swallowed up considerable sums (a total of 1,600,000 Roman crowns in 1798), and earned the pope the nickname of "he secatore”, implying that he drains the swamps and the Roman fortunes through heavy taxes.