1824 · Milano
by Spolverini, Gian Battista
Milano: Dall Societá Tipogr. De’Classici Italiani, 1824. 8vo. 230 x 145 mm., [9 x 5 ¾ inches]. Engraved portrait of the author by Giovanni Bigatti. Bound in original blue paper wrappers, upper wrapper renewed, with price printed on lower wrappers. Printed on good paper with wide margins. A very good copy.
Later edition, containing an eulogy of Marchese Spolverini (1695-1763) by Ippolito Pindemonte, and a "Lettera" published with the first edition, printed in 1763. Spolverini was a minor poet educated in Bologna and inspired by the Georgics of Virgil. His poem, dedicated to the Elisabetta Farnese, is written in four canto and nearly 5000 lines. It captures the pastoral environment of the Emilia Romagna, the nobility of the paesani who cultivate the land, and the beauty of the aqua alta which floods the land to produce the rice. His lyrics also contain the importance of rice as a staple part of the diet of the Italian people.
It appears that this is the only poem published by Spolverini but it had significant influence and was reprinted throughout the 19th century, the most recent edition was published in 1995. It is mentioned in many scholarly works on Virgil and pastoral poetry and there were a number of eulogies published about Spolverini years after his death.
Henssler, Maria Paleari, Bibliografia Latino-Italiani di Gastronomia, I. p. 698; (1998). Niccoli, Saggio Storico e Bibliografico dell’Agricultura Italiana, p. 204. . (Inventory #: 1373)
Later edition, containing an eulogy of Marchese Spolverini (1695-1763) by Ippolito Pindemonte, and a "Lettera" published with the first edition, printed in 1763. Spolverini was a minor poet educated in Bologna and inspired by the Georgics of Virgil. His poem, dedicated to the Elisabetta Farnese, is written in four canto and nearly 5000 lines. It captures the pastoral environment of the Emilia Romagna, the nobility of the paesani who cultivate the land, and the beauty of the aqua alta which floods the land to produce the rice. His lyrics also contain the importance of rice as a staple part of the diet of the Italian people.
It appears that this is the only poem published by Spolverini but it had significant influence and was reprinted throughout the 19th century, the most recent edition was published in 1995. It is mentioned in many scholarly works on Virgil and pastoral poetry and there were a number of eulogies published about Spolverini years after his death.
Henssler, Maria Paleari, Bibliografia Latino-Italiani di Gastronomia, I. p. 698; (1998). Niccoli, Saggio Storico e Bibliografico dell’Agricultura Italiana, p. 204. . (Inventory #: 1373)
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