Online on the website of the National Library of Naples the autograph of Leopardi's The Infinite

The bicentennial celebrations of Giacomo Leopardi’s The Infinite come to a close, during which the National Library of Naples has played a key role. Indeed, the precious autograph of TheInfinite transcribed by the poet probably in 1819 is kept here; Leopardi kept it with him until his death and made changes and corrections to it from time to time.

In addition to the first autograph draft, the National Library of Naples preserves almost the entire corpus of Leopardi’s literary, philosophical and non-fiction works, left by the poet to his friend Antonio Ranieri and arriving in 1907 at the famous Neapolitan library, becoming the property of the Italian state.

"The National Library of Naples has long been engaged, with the support of the General Directorate of Libraries and Cultural Institutes, in an intense action of valorization of the poet’s work and preservation of memory through a constant activity of research and study of the Leopardian heritage. The initiatives, curated and organized by the Neapolitan Library and, not only for the 200th anniversary of L’Infinito, will continue in the coming months. Intent of the Library is,in fact, to bring the public closer to the thought of Giacomo Leopardi able to provide current answers to the major issues of contemporary society, enhancing and making usable at the same time the scientific heritage possessed by this library, which in this’ view curates and coordinates the project of digitization of the vast body of Leopardi’s autographs preserved in Naples," commented the director of the National Library of Naples, Francesco Mercurio.

Autographs of Leopardi’s most famous cantos can already be viewed online at the Library’s website.

The 1819 autograph is penned in fine ductus pen and dark ink and is of fundamental literary and philological importance because it allows us to examine Giacomo Leopardi’s changes and corrections and to trace the poet’s choices and second thoughts.

In the image, Maestro Muti admires Leopardi’s The Infinite.

Online on the website of the National Library of Naples the autograph of Leopardi's The Infinite

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