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Urbino. November 1464. Antonio Petrucci, a preeminent Senese politician and condottiero, is still imprisoned, following his defeat at the hands of papal troops on 30 October 1461. During his captivity, Petrucci composed a Zibaldone (a commonplace book), in which he mainly copied lyrics by Latin classics and Italian poets and humanists. Petrucci’s autograph also contains a complaint against Fortune dated 10 November 1464, which is one of the last texts of the manuscript. Petrucci was certainly not the first medieval author to reflect on human fate and the role of Fortune. On the contrary, the image of the wheel of Fortune is probably among the most iconic of the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, Petrucci’s complaint is not simply a general reflection on the role of Fortune. The lamentation is chiefly the way Petrucci decided to portray his own personal fall, accusing the “very cruel Fortune” of depriving him of his “illustrious and gracious homeland”, Siena. It would be superficial to reduce the Senese’s complaint to a simple description of his misadventures, and the same is true for every document written by someone who suffered a failure. Petrucci’s case raises questions about the sources available to historians to study the history of downward mobility.

The work Pensieri Riflessioni Massime, edited by Domenico Felice, represents, due to the solidity of its themes, a fundamental milestone in Montesquieu’s philosophical production and, more in general, in modern philosophy. The lucidity the different subjects are dealt with makes this book another significant cornerstone in the French author’s thought.

The work Pensieri Riflessioni Massime, edited by Domenico Felice, represents, due to the solidity of its themes, a fundamental milestone in Montesquieu’s philosophical production and, more in general, in modern philosophy. The lucidity the different subjects are dealt with makes this book another significant cornerstone in the French author’s thought.

This essay examines Giacomo Leopardi’s reflections on the future in the Zibaldone, his encyclopedic miscellany of notes and thoughts. Leopardi (1798-1837) is one of Europe’s greatest poets and thinkers, yet his reception outside of Italy has been relatively limited. The article aims to situate Leopardi’s ideas in the context of modern European thought and to frame his vision of futurity by examining a series of interconnected issues: the question of the modern individual’s experience of time and relationship with the future; the nature of society’s responsibility toward the generations to come; and the question of literature’s engagement with future readers. It shows how Leopardi’s philosophy of the future provided both a critique of European modernity and a response to its challenges. It also draws out the parallel issue of an author’s contemporaneity, that is her capacity to belong to her period and, at the same time, to transcend it. Thus, while resituating Leopardi’s temporal reflection within the epochal changes that took place between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the article also attempts to decouple the texts and their message from their historical period, in order to investigate Leopardi’s relevance beyond the limits of his present.

This essay examines Giacomo Leopardi’s reflections on the future in the Zibaldone, his encyclopedic miscellany of notes and thoughts. Leopardi (1798-1837) is one of Europe’s greatest poets and thinkers, yet his reception outside of Italy has been relatively limited. The article aims to situate Leopardi’s ideas in the context of modern European thought and to frame his vision of futurity by examining a series of interconnected issues: the question of the modern individual’s experience of time and relationship with the future; the nature of society’s responsibility toward the generations to come; and the question of literature’s engagement with future readers. It shows how Leopardi’s philosophy of the future provided both a critique of European modernity and a response to its challenges. It also draws out the parallel issue of an author’s contemporaneity, that is her capacity to belong to her period and, at the same time, to transcend it. Thus, while resituating Leopardi’s temporal reflection within the epochal changes that took place between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the article also attempts to decouple the texts and their message from their historical period, in order to investigate Leopardi’s relevance beyond the limits of his present.

Recensione a: Rosa Giulio, Gli infiniti disordini delle cose. Sullo “Zibaldone” di Leopardi, Salerno, Edisud, 2012, pp. 301, Rewiew of: Rosa Giulio, Gli infiniti disordini delle cose. Sullo “Zibaldone” di Leopardi, Salerno, Edisud, 2012, pp. 301

Dante et Ginsberg éloignent un jeune Italien de Leopardi ; Nietzsche et une femme remettent Leopardi dans la vie de celui qui n'est plus jeune.

Dante et Ginsberg éloignent un jeune Italien de Leopardi ; Nietzsche et une femme remettent Leopardi dans la vie de celui qui n'est plus jeune., http://archipel.uqam.ca/345/1/Leopardi_publi%C3%A9.doc