The National Library of Naples acquires an important autograph letter by Leopardi

An autograph letter by Giacomo Leopardi (Recanati, 1798 - Naples, 1837), written to his friend and man of letters Carlo Emanuele Muzzarelli, becomes part of the Leopardi collection in the National Library of Naples. The letter was sent from Bologna, where Leopardi arrived on September 29, 1825, to stay until November 3, 1826. In the Emilian city Leopardi took boarding accommodation with the family of the tenor Aliprandi, in a house adjoining the Teatro del Corso. The Autograph Letter, signed on the fourth page, measuring 240 x 188 mm, is addressed from Bologna to Count Carlo Emanuele Muzzarelli in Rome, and bears the date December 18, 1825. The letter, with a small tear in the upper white margin, is postmarked “BOLOGNA,” with an arrival date of December 22, and traces of the wax stamp, burnished, are clearly discernible on it. It was purchased last Nov. 18 at the Finarte Books, Autographs and Prints auction for the sum of 7,997 euros.

Count Carlo Emanuele Muzzarelli, a law graduate and auditor at the tribunal of the Sacra Rota, was a leading figure in the Roman cultural scene, with constant literary and cultural activity; he published verse and above all was a member of numerous prestigious academies, including the Arcadia (under the name Dalindo Efesio), the Tiberina, the Latina (of which he was also president), the Accademia dei Lincei, the Accademia di San Luca and the Pontifical Academy of Archaeology. He was in correspondence with Leopardi, in whose honor he composed the ode to Count Giacomo Leopardi published in Notizie teatrali bibliografiche e urbane or Il Caffè di Petronio.

“The Library despite the forced closure due to government regulations to contain the Covid pandemic,” says director Gabriele Capone, “has not interrupted its constant and intense action to protect the memory of the great poet and the constant divalorization activity of the fund with the search for other Leopardi testimonies in the hands of private individuals. Almost the entire corpus of Leopardi’s literary, philosophical and non-fiction works is preserved in Naples, and also more than 80 percent of the correspondence sent by relatives and friends to Leopardi himself. The Library’s efforts, therefore, have long been aimed at increasing the nucleus of letters written by Leopardi himself to literati and friends in order to reveal those artistic , poetic and personal aspects also linked to specific stages of places and historical moments.”

“This is an autograph document of particular bibliographical and historical interest,” explains Director Capone, “of which references can be found in the literature; repeatedly cited in epistolaries and repertories, it proves useful for a greater understanding of the poet’s personality. The letter presents us with a behavior of Giacomo Leopardi different from the usual one, always shy and reserved; in the missive, in fact, the poet, testifies his appreciation for the verses written in his honor by Count Muzzarelli, welcoming complacently to have them published.”

The missive signed by Giacomo Leopardi, in fact, reports, “... Taking advantage of the license you have granted me, I have had your beautiful quatrains printed here in a periodical sheet of which I am sending you a copy. If you wish some other copies, I would see if I could serve you.... ”.

The ode composed in honor of Giacomo Leopardi will be published, in fact, in Notizie teatrali bibliografiche e urbane or Il Caffè di Petronio, Nov. 24, 1825, No. 51, p. 203, in the verses Count Carlo Emanuele Muzzarelli celebrates Leopardi for his early Canzoni and especially for that All’Italia, verses that at that time in Bologna inflamed all liberals. “O thou, who thy country in bold sound / Togliesti all’ozio indegno, / Di un’anima non vile odi l’invito, / Di Te, di Ausonia degno”: so wrote Muzzarelli, admiring Leopardi’s sincere patriotic enthusiasm and his aspiration for the Risorgimento of Italy.

Pictured: the letter acquired by the National Library of Naples.

The National Library of Naples acquires an important autograph letter by Leopardi

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