Giornale storico della letteratura italiana | 2020 | N. 658
Anno 2020 – Annata: CXXXVII – N. 658
A cura di Barbara Manfellotto
Titolo articolo: «Soprascripti de le lettere missive cominciando a magiori principi spirituali e temporali». Riflessioni sul paratesto nell’epistolografia del ‘400
Despite the surge in epistolary studies in recent years, little attention has
been dedicated to 15th century treatises. However, thanks to the publication
of some important catalogues, i.e. Medieval and Renaissance Letter Treatises
and Form Letters (Polak, 1993-2015) and the ISTC database, there is good
reason to believe that this trend will soon change. As for texts written in the
vernacular, the catalogues have made it possible to identify what may well
be the first printed manual, the anonymous Trattato de li ditamini (ISTC
it00427400), and with regard to manuscripts, the catalogues have traced one
of the first ars epistolandi treatises from the Quattrocento (cod. 2333, Biblioteca Statale di Lucca) and identified a new early witness of Bartolomeo
Miniatore’s well-known Formulario di epistole missive e responsive (cod. Harley 4168, British Library). Enlisting the Polak catalogue, this article examines
a collection of headings written in the vernacular in and around Bologna in
the last quarter of the 15th century. This type of treatise has been particularly
neglected by critics, though such works can shed precious light on a key
phase in the history of Renaissance epistle writing, i.e. that of the developments in the 14th and 15th century salutatio, one of the most theorised upon
sections in mediaeval artes. From this short treatise (trattatello), in fact, there
emerged a new form of epistle writing which differed from that traditionally
used in manuals from the 13th and 14th centuries, one which in various ways
resembles forms still in use today. This article offers a detailed description of
the Soprascripti, providing an extensive extract in the appendix.
Pag. 160-192
Etichette: Epistolario, Epistolografia, XV secolo, XVI secolo, Soprascripti de le lettere missive,
Titolo articolo: «Vagabondaggi» culturali per l’Italia di Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley’s interest in Italy is seen in her historical novel Valperga: or
The Life and Adventures of Castruccio, Prince of Lucca (1823). The writer had
been to Italy several times and had written impressive articles on the country and its culture; and for a while the translation of Manzoni’s I promessi
sposi was amongst her work projects. The two volumes of Rambles in Germany and Italy in 1840, 1842, and 1843 belong to 1844. These are written in
epistolary form, as was often the case with travel books. The greater part is
dedicated to Italy. There are examples of the beauty of the landscape, artistic
works, fashions and customs. There are attempts to correct the largely negative judgements passed on Italians by travellers since the eighteenth century. Italy is experiencing years of deep political and cultural renewal. Mary Shelley writes favourably of the Resurgence/Risorgimento, although condemning the ‘Carbonari’ and ‘The Young Italy’ as secret societies. She dedicates
much space to Italian literature: quoting Dante several times, and mentioning Petrarch, Ariosto, Berni, Tasso, Alfieri and Monti. Her judgement of the
Renaissance is not however completely positive: its classicism, she believed,
lead to a lack of originality. At the end of the eighteenth century there began
a deep renewal that lead to Romanticism. Shelley writes that in Italy one
reads less than in England or France, but that there are many contemporary
writers: Foscolo, Berchet, Grossi, Pellico, D’Azeglio, and above all Manzoni
and Giovan Battista Niccolini. The historians Botta, Colletta and Amari are
also admired.
Pag. 162-192
Etichette: Letteratura di viaggio, XIX secolo, XVIII secolo, Mary Shelley’, Prince of Lucca, Valperga: or The Life and Adventures of Castruccio,
Titolo articolo: In un caffè remoto: l’Alessandria greca e non greca di Ungaretti
Giuseppe Ungaretti’s autobiographical texts repeatedly insist on his contacts with the group of young writers who gave rise to the important periodical Grammata (1911-1921) in Alexandria, Egypt, under the auspices of Constantine Cavafy. However, a closer analysis shows that Ungaretti’s ties with
the Greek community in Alexandria were probably not that strong after all.
In fact, his own later memories reveal themselves to be inaccurate and contradictory, and references in his work to the glorious Hellenistic and imperial
past (so dear to Cavafy) of Alexandria are exceedingly rare, for Ungaretti saw
the city predominantly in an “Arab” light. Moreover, not only was any direct
linguistic contact with the Greeks (and thus with Cavafy’s poetry) impaired
by the linguistic divide, despite the mediation of French, but the contacts
with Grammata (whose first issue was published a few months before Ungaretti’s departure from Egypt) were also clearly short-lived, and his ties with
the so-called “Apuani” (led by the Cretan George Vrissimitsakis) weakened
after 1914. Finally, it is striking that in 1917 Grammata published a very
harsh review of the Allegria, written by the Sardinian writer and journalist
Romolo Garbati, a member of those Italo-Egyptian anarchist circles that had
attracted Ungaretti in his early youth, though not in his later years.
Pag. 205-222
Etichette: Poesia, XIX secolo, XX secolo, Giuseppe Ungaretti, Konstantinos Kavafis, «Gràmmata», Alessandria d'Egitto
Titolo articolo: «Caro e gentile Solmi», «Carissimo Saba». Lettere fra Umberto Saba e Sergio Solmi
This article contains what survives of the correspondence between Umberto Saba and Sergio Solmi, covering a 30-year period that extends from
the time they met to the poet’s death in 1957. The letters are primarily from
Saba, who most likely did not carefully conserve those he had received from
Solmi. The correspondence is important in that it bears witness not only to
the decisive role that Solmi played in Saba criticism but also to Saba’s exquisite style as a letter writer.
Pag. 223-263
Etichette: Carteggio, XIX secolo, XX secolo, Sergio Solmi, Umberto Saba,
Titolo articolo: L’eredità inquieta del “Libro ritrovato” di Rodolfo Renier
Between 1913 and 1915, at the Laterza publishing house Benedetto
Croce blocked the publication of two works, the first an essay by Umberto Cosmo on De Sanctis and the second a recently published (2018) collection
of essays by Rodolfo Renier. Both books demonstrate how the members of
Turin’s historically-oriented critical tradition were intent on questioning not
only political activism and their position with respect to the aesthetics movement, but also on how public stances were distorted and manipulated during
that period. Amidst disavowals and monopolising efforts, from these pages
there emerge questions that would go on to have a fundamental impact in
subsequent years.
Pag. 264-281
Etichette: Estetica, XIX secolo, XX secolo, Arturo Graf, Benedetto Croce, Rodolfo Renier, Umberto Cosmo, Il libro ritrovato,
Titolo articolo: Ambo le chiavi: nota a “Inf”. XIII 58-61
La chiosa dei vv. 58-61 del XIII dell’ “Inferno” qui presentata fa leva sull’interpretazione anche letterale degli stessi. A proposito del passo in esame l’A. osserva infatti che la fiducia riposta dall’Imperatore nei confronti di Pier della Vigna, espressa con l’immagine delle chiavi, potrebbe avere anche un valore concreto, “ciò tanto più per Pier della Vigna, presentato in maniera precisa e marcata nel suo ruolo curiale, caratterizzato da un linguaggio di cancelleria che gli è realisticamente proprio” (p. 286-287).
Lingua: ItalianoPag. 282-287
Etichette: Poesia, XIII secolo, XIV secolo, Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia, Inferno,
Titolo articolo: La fortuna di Orazio tra XV e XVIII secolo: il ‘riuso’ di un classico attraverso due grandi repertori
L’A. presenta due importanti imprese repertoriali, firmate entrambe da Antonio Iurilli, che nell’ultimo quindicennio hanno aperto nuove prospettive di indagine sul ‘riuso’ nella letteratura italiana di un classico come Orazio. Si tratta dei due volumi “Orazio nella letteratura italiana: commentatori, traduttori, editori italiani di Quinto Orazio Flacco dal XV al XVIII secolo (Vecchiarelli editore, Roma 2004), e “Quinto Orazio Flacco. Annali delle edizioni a stampa secoli XV-XVIII”, tomi I-II (Droz, Genève 2017).
Lingua: ItalianoPag. 288-292
Etichette: Intertestualità, Poesia, I secolo a.C., XV secolo, XVI secolo, XVII secolo, XVIII secolo, Orazio,
Titolo libro/articolo recensito: Cinque Canti
A cura di: Valentina Gritti
Edizioni: Libreriauniversitaria.it Edizioni («Storie e linguaggi», 29), Padova – 2018
Lingua: Italiano
Pag. 293-295
Recensore/i: Rebecca Bardi
Etichette: Edizione critica, Letteratura cavalleresca, XV secolo, XVI secolo, Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando furioso,
Titolo libro/articolo recensito: Bellezza della volgar poesia. Con le postille inedite dell’autore e di Anton Maria Salvini
A cura di: Enrico Zucchi
Edizioni: I libri di Emil, Bologna – 2019
Lingua: Italiano
Pag. 295-300
Recensore/i: Michele Marchesi
Etichette: Arcadia, Dialogo, Poesia, XVII secolo, Giovan Mario Crescimbeni, Bellezza della volgar poesia,
Titolo libro/articolo recensito: La tragedia impossibile. Alfieri e la profanazione del tragico
Edizioni: Aracne Editrice (Oggetti e soggetti, 58), Roma – 2018
Lingua: Italiano
Pag. 300-303
Recensore/i: Mario Pozzi
Etichette: Tragedia, XIX secolo, XVIII secolo, Vittorio Alfieri,
Titolo libro/articolo recensito: L’altro Io. Alfieri: autobiografia e identità
Edizioni: Edizioni dell’Orso (Fondazione “Centro di Studi Alfieriani”, Alfieriana, 3), Alessandria – 2018
Lingua: Italiano
Pag. 300-303
Recensore/i: Mario Pozzi
Etichette: Autobiografia, XIX secolo, XVIII secolo, Vittorio Alfieri,
Titolo libro/articolo recensito: Parole mortali. Idee e cose del tempo della guerra e di tutti i tempi
A cura di: Felicita Audisio
Edizioni: Bibliopolis, Napoli – 2019
Lingua: Italiano
Pag. 303-308
Recensore/i: Mario Pozzi
Etichette: Guerra, Memoria, Memorialistica, XIX secolo, XX secolo, Ferdinando Carlesi, Parole mortali,
Titolo libro/articolo recensito: Viandante nel Novecento. Thomas Mann e la storia
Edizioni: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, Roma – 2019
Lingua: Italiano
Pag. 308-311
Recensore/i: Arnaldo Di Benedetto
Etichette: Guerra, Nazione, Nazismo, Politica, XIX secolo, XX secolo, Benedetto Croce, Thomas Mann, Le considerazioni di un non-politico,
