In June 2015 friends and colleagues gathered in Ferrara to celebrate the 60’th birthday of Ph. Ellia. During the conference, in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, it was decided to publish a volume collecting papers dedicated to Philippe. This issue of the Rendiconti is the output of that decision. It contains ten original papers, all of which have been peer refereed. They cover a wide range of topics in Algebraic Geometry, the branch of mathematics which has been the primary scientific interest of Philippe and in which he has given substantial contributions in the course of the years. We hope that these papers, offered to him with devotion and affection, will be appreciated by him and by the readers of the Rendiconti. We heartily thank the contributors and the referees for their work and the Editorial Board of Rendiconti for accepting to devote an issue of the journal to this project. We would like to take this opportunity to renovate our best wishes to our friend Philippe Ellia.

Ferrara and Roma, September 9, 2016