Prev / Next

Books, Autographs & Prints

Wednesday 20 November 2024 e Thursday 21 November 2024, 04:00 PM • Rome

4

Autografi - Negri, Ada

Correspondence with Ettore Cozzani and others, 1919

Estimate

€ 30.000 - 35.000

Aggiudicato

Current bid Starting bid

€ 28.000

Your offer is the highest Your bid doesn't meet the reserve price La tua offerta è stata superata

(0 bids, reserve not met)

At auction on Wednesday 20 November 2024 at 16:00

0 days 0 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds

In order to place your bid, log in or create an account

How bidding works

Information

Extraordinary and rich correspondence between Ada Negri and Ettore Cozzani, composed of 40 letters and compositions (for a total of approximately 50 autographed pages) addressed by the Italian poet and first female Academician of Italy to one of the most brilliant Italian editors and essayists of the early twentieth century. The corpus also includes 4 letters from Bianca Scalfi , daughter of Ada Negri, 1 long celebratory text of Negri by Cozzani of 9 pp., a concise typewritten autobiography with annotations in Negri's own hand, 2 typewritten and signed letters from Negri sent to Cozzani, 1 letter from Cozzani to Negri, 10 letters from Negri to Arnaldo Cervesato , director of "La Nuova Parola", a monthly magazine dedicated to new ideals in art, science and life, which he directed in Rome from 1902 to 1909, until it merged with the Milanese "Coenobium". All preserved in an elegant black leather collector's album with detailed accompanying cards for each autograph, size 385 x 340 mm.

Specialist Notes

THE SPIRITUAL CORRESPONDENCE OF ONE OF THE GREATEST POWERS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY WITH ONE OF THE MOST REFINED CRITICS AND PUBLISHERS.

“She burst forth from the heart of the people like a whirlpool of frozen blood: and this cruel substantiality and this biting ardour have remained in her art, through such a broad evolution that has finally transformed her to the point that, as impetus and as style, one could no longer recognize oneself in the poetess of I Canti dell'Isola and Il Dono , the poetess of Fatality and Tempesta . She emerged from the people as from a matrix and a prison; feeling herself to be the flesh of the people in the elementarity, in the hard throb, in the suffering (…)”
This is the incipit of the long memory of Ada Negri signed by Ettore Cozzani, dated Milan 13 January 1945, 3-4 pm. His close friend, the Poetess of Italy had died just two days before and with temporal precision (3-4 pm), Cozzani wants to capture on paper the image of his Ada Negri. He does so in 9 long pages perhaps unpublished, admirably sketching the character of the person and the art of one of the protagonists of the twentieth century. The missed Nobel given a couple of decades earlier to Deledda, but which she would have fully deserved.

The writer is not just any critic, but the one who in 1911 gave life to one of the most innovative, elegant and contradictory magazines of his generation: L'Eroica . The meeting of two sublime souls will give rise to a deep and sincere friendship, all testified by the present correspondence. A correspondence that begins in September 1919 and ends on March 24, 1944: 25 years of deep spiritual partnership lived in the name of great Poetry, read, commented, judged, passionately lived. The first letter speaks of Holderlin, of the creative impulse, of wrong judgments and of not judging: "I remain with much turmoil in my soul, because I do not like to judge: on the contrary, I would always like to exalt myself before the work of a poet." A poet is not judged, he exalts himself, he feels, he lives. But perhaps there are few true poets. She speaks of her writing, difficult, tormented: “You ask me about myself and you still mention the terrible name of Bach. I don’t dare answer you after having written the first part of this letter. It seems to me that the knot is unravelling; but I’m at the beginning and it’s all raw material. I’ll send you a page only when I’m – if possible – a little sure of myself.” There are some absolute models of poetry, though. “I regret not attending your lessons on Leopardi. Here we are truly in POETRY.” And these are just a few passages from the first letter of the correspondence, a taste, but for refined palates. A friendship that, as in the best traditions, has its ups and downs. Moments of silence: “Dear Friend, for a long, too long time there has been silence between us. But between two friends like you and I there can be a lot of silence without the internal conversation being interrupted. (…)". Even silence, between two deep friends, has clear and poetic words. A correspondence that is enriched with some ramifications, such as the 10 equally intense letters to Arnaldo Cervesato. Yet another glimpse into the soul of a writer that all of Italy loved and venerated, but that the spirit of the times (changed) has perhaps too quickly relegated to oblivion. That spirit instead pulsates from the lines of this correspondence and waits to be studied, published and admired. Because inside there is true life and spirit.

Condition report

To request a Condition Report, please contact libriestampe@finarte.it The department will provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Please note that what Finarte declares with respect to the state of conservation of the objects corresponds only to a qualified opinion and that we are not professional conservators or restorers. We urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. We always suggest prospective buyers to inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition during the exhibition days as indicated in the catalog.

More Lots

Manuscripts, pamphlets, letters
5

Autografi - Rossini Conti, Carlo

Manuscripts, pamphlets, letters, 1900

Estimate € 2.500 - 3.500

Starting bid € 2.200

Italian History of the Early Twentieth Century
7

Italian History of the Early Twentieth Century, 1912

Estimate € 350 - 400

Starting bid € 350

The Comedy [Edited by C. Lucius Laelius].
10

Alighieri, Dante

The Comedy [Edited by C. Lucius Laelius]., 1478

Estimate € 60.000 - 80.000

Starting bid € 60.000

The Banquet
16

Alighieri, Dante

The Banquet, 1490

Estimate € 20.000 - 25.000

Starting bid € 20.000

View more lots