Landscape in Italy

This collection of 130 expertly composed color photographs offers a wide variety of tersely captioned images of the Italian countryside--from the impressionistic, foggy outline of the Dolomite mountains and Chianti's vineyards in an early evening glow to an ancient Sicilian necropolis. We see ``peculiar rock formations'' in Sardinia, a field of Tuscan sunflowers, rows of poplars in the Po delta and ``olive trees in a field of crimson-flowered fodder,'' in Puglia. The volume is nicely designed; the mainly postcard-sized photos, framed by a thin black line and a generous white border, are occasionally interrupted by double-page spreads. St. Aubin de Teran's ( The Slow Train to Milan ) smooth text rambles throughout the country, touching on personal memories of Italy and its people and discusses historical points of interest, well complementing freelance photographer Sims's fine pictures. (Sept.)