Naples, National Library acquires letter from Leopardi to cousin: talks about a composition never given to print

The National Library of Naples is enriched with a new autograph letter by Giacomo Leopardi. “A document of great value that further enriches the Library’s already very rich holdings and allows us to learn more about the life and thought of one of the greatest poets in our history,” said Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano.

Dated Dec. 22, 1824, the private letter is addressed to his cousin Giuseppe Melchiorri. It offers new insights into the life and work of the poet: Leopardi in the letter of the birth of a composition never given to print. “An elegant little edition,” as the text reads, “of the Characters of Theophrastus translated from the Greek into pure and good Italian,” concrete evidence of Leopardi’s philological interest in producing an edition of the Greek text that would allow the most correct translation of a little-known book of which there was a more inaccurate translation made “by Costantini.”

The newly acquired letter is thus in addition to last year’s acquisition of another autograph letter by Leopardi dated August 29, 1823 and also addressed to his cousin. Leopardi’s letters to Giuseppe Melchiorre are of particular interest because themes emerge there not only related to the cultural world and poetic method, but also to problems of daily life related to the experience of the world. The two cousins kept up a close correspondence over time, characterized by deep affection, thanks to the assiduous frequentation developed during Leopardi’s Roman sojourns. Similar in the writing of both consonants and vowels in upper and lower case, as well as in content and the feelings of mutual esteem expressed in the text, it seems that the two missives recently acquired by the Naples Library may have continuity between them.

The new acquisition was made possible thanks to the recommendation of the Soprintendenza Archivistica e Bibliografica del Lazio and the exercise of the right of first refusal by the Ministry of Culture and for an amount of 8500 euros.

The National Library of Naples holds in original form almost all of Giacomo Leopardi’s work and more than 90 percent of the correspondences sent by relatives and friends to Leopardi himself. The institution has long been engaged, with the support of the Directorate General of Libraries of the Ministry of Culture, in a constant reconnaissance effort to further integrate even the core of letters written by Leopardi himself and addressed to literati, family members and friends, of which traces have often been lost, compromised by the succession of heirs. As of 2018 alone, six letters have been acquired.

The entire corpus of Leopardi autographs in the National Library of Naples can be consulted online.

Autograph

Naples, National Library acquires letter from Leopardi to cousin: talks about a composition never given to print

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