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Giacomo Leopardi

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:20,000.00 - 25,000.00 USD
Giacomo Leopardi

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Auction Date:2015 Apr 15 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Italian poet, essayist, philosopher, and philologist (1798-1837). Rare ALS in Italian, signed “Leopardi,” one page, 6.25 x 8.5, December 17, 1828. Unpublished letter to Venetian count Antonio Papadopoli, one of his most faithful friends and patrons, in full (translated): “I cannot express all my gratitude for the loving letters you have sent me here to alleviate my solitude. The letter from Milan you refer to has never arrived, but the one from Venice did. It means I still live in your thoughts and you still love me. I hoped so, despite our long silence. How have you enjoyed yourself in Milan? Why do you say so little about yourself? Why do you mention nothing about your studies? You can’t imagine how dear to me your personal matters will always be. My stay in Recanati is obviously not dear to me and my health suffers accordingly. But my father does not have the means (or the will) to sustain me elsewhere and I act as if my life was finished. If you see our excellent Gamba (who I have met in person this year in Florence) please greet him for me. When will we see each other again? Will it ever happen? I really don’t know, my dear Antonuccio. And as to myself, I believe I have become immobile—but I will always love you, even being far, and you also will. If in my complete inutility I can be useful in any way, please command.” Addressed on the reverse in Leopardi’s hand. Intersecting folds, light toning, and small paper loss at the bottom from seal removal, otherwise fine condition. Physically weak and struggling to make ends meet, Leopardi returned to his father’s home at Recanati—his ‘savage native town,’ as he calls it in his famous ‘Le Ricordanze’—in 1828. He remained there for two years, and although it was a productive period, it was also a very unhappy time for him, again feeling isolated from the uncultured small town inhabitants. Beautifully expressing both his solitude and treasured friendship, this is a scarce and highly desirable letter from the important Italian writer.