Casanova in My Mailbox

It’s not every day that Casanova shows up in my mailbox.

But that’s where I found him today!

My copy of the new journal Casanoviana arrived in a large white envelope. It replaces the former l’Intermediaire des Casanovistes (and before that Casanova Gleanings and before that Pages Casanoviennes) as the repository for scholarship, research, and analysis on our man Giacomo Casanova. Antonio Trampus, Professor of Early Modern History at Ca’ Foscari in Venice, has now taken the helm. He writes that “Its purpose is to share news, promoting the knowledge and study of Casanova, of its time and its European and international echoes through new research, cultural debates, editions of unpublished or unknown documents.” Only 250 copies are printed of this annual journal, so you can see it’s pretty special that it arrived at my home today.

This edition contains articles by Giuseppe Bignami, Stefano Feroci, Dino Detailleur, Michela Messina, Marco Leeflang with Tom Vitelli, Marco Leeflang with Antonio Trampus, and Antonio Trampus individually. An editorial, notes and queries fill other pages, and it is generous with color images. Ideally you are trilingual if you hope to read the whole journal, as articles appear in either English, Italian, or French. Alas, I miss out on some of the compositions, as I don’t speak French (and my Italian is far from perfect). But still, I’m looking forward to diving into the articles this weekend to see what these authors have written. I’m delighted to call some of these writers my friends as well.

The upcoming symposium Casanova In Place, 28-30 June in Venice, will actually feature a number of these authors. Tom Vitelli and Stefano Feroci will be presenting papers, and Dino Detailleur will be in attendance. If you would like more information about the event, visit the website for details and registration.

Tom Vitelli with Chantal Thomas at the UCLA Casanova conference in 2016

If you would like to order your own copy of Casanoviana, contact Antonio Trampus at the university. Don’t be number 251 and miss your chance to get a copy!