Thomas Steavens (c.1718–1759) A remarkable group of Roman sa...

Thomas Steavens (c.1718–1759) A remarkable group of Roman satirical manuscripts, with the contemporary Chiavé to Semidame, revealing the principal figures of papal society, [Rome, c.1748–1750] Chiavé, comprising three bifolia, pp. 11 with final blank; Ritrattazione, comprising five bifolia, pp. 16 with four blank pages to rear; Semidame, comprising four bifolia, pp. 12 with two blank pages to rear; Pasquino a Marforio, comprising two bifolia, pp. 7 with final blank; all manuscripts in Italian, Rome, mid-eighteenth century (c.1748–1750). Black ink on laid paper, quarto, each retaining its original folded format. Chiavé arranged in ruled double columns with decorative calligraphic headings identifying the pseudonymous characters of the accompanying satires; the three remaining manuscripts similarly opening with ornamental penwork titles and written in neat contemporary cursive hands, the verse generally arranged in a single column of approximately sixteen lines per page. Generally in very good to excellent condition, with contemporary folds, occasional light foxing and minor staining, otherwise clean examples retaining broad margins and without later annotations or ownership inscriptions. (4) The collection comprises four contemporary manuscript booklets illustrating the flourishing tradition of Roman satirical literature during the mid-eighteenth century, probably written in Rome during the closing years of the War of the Austrian Succession (c.1748–1750). The principal work, Semidame, is accompanied by its contemporary Chiavé ("Key"), a manuscript identifying the pseudonymous characters employed throughout the satire and revealing the real members of the Roman aristocracy, clergy, diplomatic community and wider social elite concealed beneath them. Thus "Prelatino" is identified as Monsignor Giraud, "Vita" as Contessa Vita, "Di Prussia" as Sig. Coltroli, "Giacomini" as Conte Carli di Fano, "Banchiera" as Sig. Argenvilliers, "Anna del Lotto" as Sig. Viscardi, "Cicia Cola" as the wife of Abbate Cola, "Cristina" as Alborghetti Vespignani, "Schiaffeggiata" as Sig. Quarenghi, "Palmira" as Sig. Amadei, and "Dionigi" as the brother of the Auditor Gravina, transforming what would otherwise appear as anonymous verse into a pointed commentary upon identifiable figures of papal Rome. The accompanying manuscripts expand this picture of contemporary literary culture. Ritrattazione serves as a poetic recantation to an earlier satire, while Pasquino a Marforio adopts the long-established Roman dialogue between the city's speaking statues to comment upon current affairs. Together the four manuscripts preserve an unusually coherent group of contemporary literary satires, recording the wit, political tensions and social rivalries of Rome immediately before the Jubilee of 1750. Read as a whole, the collection extends beyond literary satire into a valuable documentary record of Roman intellectual life. Its verses engage with contemporary European politics, the War of the Austrian Succession, papal government, diplomacy, the Roman aristocracy and the city's literary academies, whilst the accompanying Chiavé provides the indispensable means of identifying many of the otherwise concealed protagonists. Such contemporary manuscript survivals, retaining both the satires and their original key, are uncommon and provide an exceptional window into the political humour, private circulation and social commentary of mid-eighteenth-century papal Rome. Footnote: The Roman tradition of pasquinades—anonymous satirical verses attached to the statue of Pasquino and answered by those of Marforio and other "talking statues"—was one of the defining literary forms of eighteenth-century papal Rome. For the tradition see Peter Burke, The Fortunes of the Courtier: The European Reception of Castiglione's Cortegiano (Cambridge, 1995), pp. 128–133; and Claudio Rendina, Pasquino Statua Parlante (Rome, 1991).

Estimate:£600

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