In addition to the writers I mention in my introduction to this book, I am intellectually indebted to several other scholars on whose painstaking research I depended in the process of developing my own point of view concerning Leopardi’s life and work.
Doctor Maria Rascaglia, who administers the Leopardi and the Ranieri papers at the National Library of Naples, is my main source of insights into these two sets of documents. Her detailed descriptions of them formed part of two exceptionally useful volumes edited by Gaetano Macchiaroli containing historical, biographical, and literary-critical analyses, in addition to photographs and pictures that have enriched Leopardi studies since their appearance in 1987 and 1998. I’m also grateful to Doctor Rascaglia for making her staff available to me for a variety of indispensable services.
Two other scholars whose research and perspectives were important to me are Elisabetta Benucci, masterful editor and interpreter of Leopardi’s letters and lesser known literary projects, and Vanna Gazzola Stacchini, who with Elio Gioanola is among the not many scholars who have used psychoanalytical methods in their studies.
In Recanati, Leopardi’s native city and the site of his birthplace, an imposing seventeenth-century palazzo, I was cordially received, as have been other Leopardi scholars, by Countess Anna Leopardi, who has devoted many years to making her home accessible to visiting researchers and who has produced a number of books on the history of the Leopardi family that combine personal memories with diligent research. Countess Leopardi relies for various important services on Signora Carmela Magri, who patiently informed me about the Leopardi family dwelling and the personalities of the individuals who have played important roles in its history. I appreciated her availability to me, sometimes on a moment’s notice, due to the relatively short time I was able to spend in Recanati.
At the National Center of Leopardi Studies, which adjoins the palazzo, I was fortunate to receive the assistance of Professor Ermanno Carini, a leading Leopardi bibliographer and author of important critical writings on the poet. Several conversations with Professor Carini turned out to be crucial to my understanding of the various new voices and critical currents in Leopardi studies that have emerged over the past twenty years or so. Roberto Tanoni, who administers the Center’s library and collection of media materials, also made himself available to me in matters small and large.
I am grateful to three people who took the trouble to read and critique chapters of my study. They are my sister Johanna Garfield, and my friends Dr. Ann Burack-Weiss and Professor Ben Fontana. All three pointed out concrete ways in which to improve the quality of my study.
I owe a debt of gratitude to two people whose friendship and intellectual rigor have always been an inspiration to me: Professor Michael E. Brown and the late Annette Rubinstein. Of course, neither bears responsibility for any errors and deficiencies in my work.