1809 · {Parma?}
by Affò, Ireneo
{Parma?}, 1809. Unpublished Manuscript. 8vo. 230 x 160 mm., [9 x 6 ½ inches]. 122 leaves. Bound in half brown calf with title in gold on spine, vellum tips. Boards with decorative marbled paper, untrimmed with deckled edges intact. Very good copy written in one highly legible hand by Dr. Giuseppe Adorni of Baganza, a neighboring city of Parma. This copy belonged to the bookseller Dr. Renzo Rizzi (1952-2004) of Milan who included a note listing other known manuscript copies of this poem extant.
According to Tiraboschi, this text circulated in manuscript rather widely and is known today in five manuscript copies. Il Concorso di Filosofia (The Competition Among Philosophies) was originally written in 1767, when Affò (1741-1797) was 25 and a newly committed novitiate in the Franciscan Order. Having entered the Minor Observants, he taught history at the schools in Guastalla in the outskirts of Parma and through his research on antiquarian subjects built a name for himself. He discovered a number of unknown manuscripts and began publishing on art history and the history of Parma. In 1785 after the death of the director and one of Affò’s most important patrons he was appointed head librarian at the Biblioteca Palatina where he remained for the rest of his life. He is credited with writing hundreds of published and unpublished essays, a standard work on the history of Parma and numerous biographies of luminaries from the history of that great city. He was considered by his peers to be the Father of Parma Historiography and because of his archival research and balanced interpretive approach his works are still of use today.
The burlesque poem was written while Affò was new to the Franciscans and influenced by writers like Tassoni and Bracciolini, whose comical and burlesque style became the rage in mid-century Italy. Affò’s Il Concorso di Filosofia was a satirical account of the debates that he witnessed during his early years in the Order. Like Tassoni’s account of the petty warfare between neighboring cities Modena and Bologna in his mock-epic La secchia rapita, Affò created a pitched battle of ideas. He pitted the voices of his comrades against one another in a mock battle of philosophical thought and satirized the manner in which Church teachings could be manipulated and distorted to meet ones needs. Realizing the difficulty of publishing this work he decided to keep the poem in manuscript only and the text has never been set in type even to this day.
According to a note on leaf 116v, Dr. Giuseppe Adorni (1774-1851) completed the transcription of this poem on the 5th of July 1809. He identifies himself as “Dottor Adorni Parmigiano” and his biography suggests he was a good poet and that there is an edition of his verse edited and printed by Bodoni.
Girolamo Tiraboschi, Storia della Litteratura Italiana, VIII (1812), p.494. L. Modona, Bibliografia del P. Ireneo Affò, Parma 1898, p. 100. . (Inventory #: 1380)
According to Tiraboschi, this text circulated in manuscript rather widely and is known today in five manuscript copies. Il Concorso di Filosofia (The Competition Among Philosophies) was originally written in 1767, when Affò (1741-1797) was 25 and a newly committed novitiate in the Franciscan Order. Having entered the Minor Observants, he taught history at the schools in Guastalla in the outskirts of Parma and through his research on antiquarian subjects built a name for himself. He discovered a number of unknown manuscripts and began publishing on art history and the history of Parma. In 1785 after the death of the director and one of Affò’s most important patrons he was appointed head librarian at the Biblioteca Palatina where he remained for the rest of his life. He is credited with writing hundreds of published and unpublished essays, a standard work on the history of Parma and numerous biographies of luminaries from the history of that great city. He was considered by his peers to be the Father of Parma Historiography and because of his archival research and balanced interpretive approach his works are still of use today.
The burlesque poem was written while Affò was new to the Franciscans and influenced by writers like Tassoni and Bracciolini, whose comical and burlesque style became the rage in mid-century Italy. Affò’s Il Concorso di Filosofia was a satirical account of the debates that he witnessed during his early years in the Order. Like Tassoni’s account of the petty warfare between neighboring cities Modena and Bologna in his mock-epic La secchia rapita, Affò created a pitched battle of ideas. He pitted the voices of his comrades against one another in a mock battle of philosophical thought and satirized the manner in which Church teachings could be manipulated and distorted to meet ones needs. Realizing the difficulty of publishing this work he decided to keep the poem in manuscript only and the text has never been set in type even to this day.
According to a note on leaf 116v, Dr. Giuseppe Adorni (1774-1851) completed the transcription of this poem on the 5th of July 1809. He identifies himself as “Dottor Adorni Parmigiano” and his biography suggests he was a good poet and that there is an edition of his verse edited and printed by Bodoni.
Girolamo Tiraboschi, Storia della Litteratura Italiana, VIII (1812), p.494. L. Modona, Bibliografia del P. Ireneo Affò, Parma 1898, p. 100. . (Inventory #: 1380)
(202) 578-4803
