1809 · Parma
by Rosellini, Massimina Fantastici
Parma: Co’Tipi Bodoniani, 1809. Folio. 320 x 225 mm., [12 ½ x 9 ¼ inches]. [6], 10 pp. Found in contemporary marbled stiff paper wrappers; wrappers showing some wear to edges and corners, paper somewhat soiled and darkened at the margins; minor foxing on most leaves. With faults a good copy of a rare Bodoni publication.
This is the first publication by the poet and playwright Massimina Fantastici Rosellini (1789-1859). It was printed by Giovanbattista Bodoni and it contains a laudatory introduction by the royal printer of Lucca, Francesco Baroni. Baroni provides an introduction addressed to “All’ amabile Figlia di Temira Parraside,” “to the lovable daughter of Termira Parraside”, the Arcadian name of her mother Fortunata Fantastici. The two poems by Massimina were written to Signora Alessandra Rospigliosi, a noble women from Pistoia, and the poet and freedom fighter Count Giovanni Fantoni, known as Lubindo, who died in 1807.
Massimina’s career spanned thirty years, and she published hundreds of poems and a dozen plays during her tenure as one of Italy’s most notable female authors. Her most successful publications were her poems and plays that reflected her interest in the education of children. Comedies for Children was published in Florence and went thought five editions in the 1830’s. This was followed in 1837 with Readings for Children from Four to Ten Years. An edition of Poems for Children was issued in 1838. Her plays were topical and sometimes controversial. She wrote about the Risorgimento focusing on its impact on families and especially mothers and wives. In 1845 she published anonymously Il Compare, a tragedy about the seduction of a peasant girl by a nobleman. It became a sensation and after the death of her husband, future editions carried her name and contributed greatly to her renown. Her final publication, Dialogues and Stories for Children, was published in 1851. She died in Lucca in 1859.
Ferri, Pietro Leopoldo. Biblioteca Femminile Italiana, pp. 154-157. Valintina Coen, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, V. 44 (1994) under the name Massimina Fantastici. Brooks, Bibliografica di Edizioni Bodoniane, 1069. . (Inventory #: 1292)
This is the first publication by the poet and playwright Massimina Fantastici Rosellini (1789-1859). It was printed by Giovanbattista Bodoni and it contains a laudatory introduction by the royal printer of Lucca, Francesco Baroni. Baroni provides an introduction addressed to “All’ amabile Figlia di Temira Parraside,” “to the lovable daughter of Termira Parraside”, the Arcadian name of her mother Fortunata Fantastici. The two poems by Massimina were written to Signora Alessandra Rospigliosi, a noble women from Pistoia, and the poet and freedom fighter Count Giovanni Fantoni, known as Lubindo, who died in 1807.
Massimina’s career spanned thirty years, and she published hundreds of poems and a dozen plays during her tenure as one of Italy’s most notable female authors. Her most successful publications were her poems and plays that reflected her interest in the education of children. Comedies for Children was published in Florence and went thought five editions in the 1830’s. This was followed in 1837 with Readings for Children from Four to Ten Years. An edition of Poems for Children was issued in 1838. Her plays were topical and sometimes controversial. She wrote about the Risorgimento focusing on its impact on families and especially mothers and wives. In 1845 she published anonymously Il Compare, a tragedy about the seduction of a peasant girl by a nobleman. It became a sensation and after the death of her husband, future editions carried her name and contributed greatly to her renown. Her final publication, Dialogues and Stories for Children, was published in 1851. She died in Lucca in 1859.
Ferri, Pietro Leopoldo. Biblioteca Femminile Italiana, pp. 154-157. Valintina Coen, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, V. 44 (1994) under the name Massimina Fantastici. Brooks, Bibliografica di Edizioni Bodoniane, 1069. . (Inventory #: 1292)
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