Naples, 1820 - 1821. Folio, 159 posters, some in dialect, of various sizes (the smallest 18 x 26 cm, the largest 54 x 77.5 cm), some of two or more pages and some printed double-sided with different texts and dates; plus a two-page handwritten index. Finally, 8 decrees from the period of Joseph Napoleon present in the index but not linked. The collection is not in chronological order. Some restoration, light, more intense browning on a few papers, some foxing. Ligature of time in mz. parchment, piece with title and gold decorations on the spine.
This collection comes from the library of the Marquis Donato Antonio Tommasi, Minister of Grace and Justice of Ferdinand I. The volume was found, together with others, at the beginning of the 70s of the last century, in some trunks preserved in the attic of the Tommasi palace and by heirs sold to Ermanno Cassitto bookseller in Port'Alba. Exceptional collection, which we can define as unique, of wall sheets and leaflets that cover the entire range of popular uprisings, starting from 6 July 1820 with the proclamation of Guglielmo Pepe, newly appointed commander of the constitutional army, to the peoples of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, ending with the decree of Ferdinand I, of 30 May 1821, (in which the writing "and for the Constitution of the monarchy" no longer appears) which grants amnesty to members of secret societies who are not guilty of the crime of conspiracy or accused of common misdeeds. The volume offers us, day by day, a complete panorama of the events, the revolt, the joy of the people for the granting of the Constitution, the election of Parliament, the hostility of the European nations, the formation of the constitutional army, the congress of Troppeau, the declaration of war by Austria and the allies, the invasion of the Kingdom, the war, the defeat, the dissolution of the Chamber and the abolition of the Constitution. On 1 January 1820, a rebellion broke out in Spain led by some army officers which led, on the following 7 March, to the restoration of the Constitution of Cadiz of 1812, which provided for a reduction of royal powers and broad suffrage for Parliament. This event reverberated in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, determining an alliance between the Carbonari and numerous former Murat military personnel in favor of the Constitution. At the beginning of July of the same year, the young officers Morelli and Silvati, leaders of the Carboneria section of Nola, started the conspiracy, deserting with their troops and heading towards Avellino and Salerno, while the revolt spread to Naples where the general Guglielmo Pepe had collected two regiments of cavalry and one of infantry. At that point Ferdinand I agreed, albeit reluctantly, to the formation of a constitutional government and, with a decree of 7 July which authorized the Spanish Constitution of 1812, appointed Crown Prince Francis of Bourbon, Vicar General. The governments of the Holy Alliance, however, had not contemplated granting the Constitution for Naples and at the Conference of Troppau (23 October - 17 December 1820) they sanctioned, against the opinion of England and France, the "Principle of intervention" which would have allowed the 'Austria to act to suppress the Neapolitan revolts in the name of the Holy Alliance. Austria, Russia and Prussia in any case chose to invite Ferdinand I to Ljubljana, to the congress that would take place in January 1821, to attempt to collectively resolve the Neapolitan question. Having received Parliament's authorization to leave Naples in December, on the condition of supporting the Constitution, Ferdinand I made an immediate about-face and invoked Austrian help, declaring that he had been forced to grant the Constitution by force. The Kingdom was invaded by the Austrian army, 50,000 strong, under General Frimont. General Guglielmo Pepe attempted resistance with the Neapolitan army first in Rieti and then in the Antrodoco Gorges, but defeated he had to abandon L'Aquila and retreat. The march of the Austrian troops at that point was practically unstoppable so that on 20 March 1821 they entered Capua and on the 23rd they reached Naples. Ferdinand I returned to Naples on 15 May and definitively revoked the Constitution, starting a severe purge and condemning the main leaders of the Carboneria to death.