Naples, Tasso’s autograph sonnet purchased by the National Library

A precious box in decorated red morocco, containing the recently discovered autograph sonnet of Torquato Tasso, will further enrich and enhance the remarkable Tassiana collection of the Naples National Library which bought it on the market. THEThe manuscript, a real rarity, addressed to Mr Don Vincenzo Caracciolo, makes it possible to identify with certainty the recipient of the composition and testifies to the difficult relationship between the two characters. The sonnet is accompanied by a triptych of three autographed letters from Alfonso d’Este, Duke of Ferrara, with prints, addressed to Tasso, and by Eleonora d’Este, the noblewoman, with whom the poet was allegedly in love. The autograph sonnet by Torquato Tasso, of which traces had been lost, which came to light in recent months, was auctioned by Finarte last June, and finally purchased by the National Library of Naples only after a long negotiation. It will be delivered to the National Library on Monday 21 November at 11 am This is a particularly important acquisition on the antiquarian market – explains Maria Iannotti, director of the Library -. The autograph of Torquato Tasso (1544 -1595), found Onor in the tomb and in golden marbles, the sonnet n.1491 of the Rime, dated 1590, which has been handed down by various witnesses, but which is unknown in the present autographed version.

The Tassiana collection in Naples

Addressed to Vincenzo Caracciolo, it was originally sent by Tasso together with another sonnet, but the lyrics never reached the addressee, as can be seen from a letter dated November 12, 1590 where Tasso claims to have been defrauded of the two lyrics. The sonnet purchased by the Library was precisely the one that was to accompany the letter of 28 September 1590. The National Library – continues Maria Iannotti – has always maintained a strong bond with Tasso to whom in 1996, on the occasion of the fourth centenary of his death, it dedicated a extensive documentary and bibliographic exhibition of autographs and relevant printed editions that we own. We thank the Directorate General for Libraries and Copyright of the Ministry of Culture which, with its intervention, allowed the acquisition of Tasso’s sonnet offered for sale by the Finarte Auctions Auction House in Rome and wanted to allocate it to our Library. it is necessary to point out the competence and professionalism of the Finarte Auctions Auction House in Rome, in particular of dott. Fabio Massimo Bertolo, who assisted us allowing the negotiation to be successful. The National Library of Naples already has an important nucleus of Tasso’s manuscripts, including the very precious ms. ex Vind Lat 72 Philologi. Poeta Tasso Gerusalemme Conquistata, entirely written in Naples where the poet lived from 1588 to 1594. Among the autograph letters we mention the last antiques purchase of 2020 (ms 13 B38), this is the letter dated 14 April 1585, From my rooms of Ferrara, written for his friend and future cardinal Scipione Gonzaga, in which he argued against the negative judgment of the Accademia della Crusca regarding the lexicon and style of his Goffredo, the first draft of Gerusalemme Liberata. The collection of the National Library of Naples is completed by notable printed editions of the works of Torquato Tasso.