Le pistole vulgari

Folio. CXIX (recte CXX) leaves. A-Z⁴, AA-GG⁴. With an architectural title-page and large typographical device on the verso of the last page. Late eighteenth century vellum over boards, marbled endpapers, red morocco label on spine. With an interesting seven line manuscript note by Giulio Bernardino Tomitano (1761-1828) stating that the present copy was offered to the “Eccelso Consiglio dei X”, the rulers of Venice; and in fact there is a strip of paper pasted on the last endpaper with a two line dedication to the Consiglio dei X in a sixteenth-century hand possibly by Franco himself.

Adams, F-961; Basso, pp. 51-52; Edit 16, CNCE 19815; Quondam, p. 297; R.L. Bruni, Per una bibliografia delle opere di Nicolò Franco, in: “Studi e problemi di critica testuale”, XV, 1977, p. 84.

First edition, second issue with Gardane's address and his beautiful large typographical device. The first issue is dated November 1538 and bears neither address nor device. For this second issue the bi-folium GG1-GG4 was reset.

The book is dedicated to Leone Orsini (Venice, July 1, 1538), a member of the powerful roman family, and the founder of the Accademia degli Infiammati in Padua, who was made bishop of the diocese of Fréjus-Toulon in 1525 and, later on, agent to the king of France at the papal court. He was Franco's patron, and the latter dedicated two other works to him (cf. C. Schiavon, Una via d'accesso agli epistolari. Le dediche dei libri di lettere d'autore nel Cinquecento. Prima parte, in: “Margini. Giornale della dedica e altro”, 3, 2009, p. 21).

The collection contains 292 letters (all dated between 1531 and 1538) and many dedicatory sonnets. Although the imitation of Aretino as a model is immediately evident, even in the choice of the unusual folio format, the major difference between Aretino's De le lettere libro primo (Venice, 1538) and Franco's Pistole vulgari lies in the presence of many explicitly fictitious letters in the latter's collection, all gathered together in the third and final book. Besides that, the whole Franco's correspondence has raised doubts about its authenticity and historical veracity. In particular, the group of letters addressed to the king of France, Francis I, the first of which are dated 1531 when the author was only 16 years old, where questioned, even by Aretino. It is probable that they were written by Franco at a later date to win the favour of Francis I and to find a way to the court of France (cf. P. Grendler, Critics of the Italian World (1530-1560). Anton Francesco Doni, Nicolò Franco and Ortensio Lando, Madison-Milwaukee-London, 1969, p. 43).

Considering Franco's correspondents, some few homogeneous groups of recipients are easily recognizable: “accanto al gruppo composto da famosi uomini di governo capeggiati da Francesco I […], e a quello dei pochi ma molto amati amici beneventani (Cautano, Mansella Aquila), il nucleo più consistente è senz'altro rappresentato da interlocutori la cui prevalente ‘venezianità' mostra come per il Franco la mediazione aretiniana fosse stata fondamentale. Fra questi ultimi, inoltre, accanto ad uomini impegnati a vario titolo nel governo della repubblica (Donato, Da Legge, B. Navagero, G. Quirini, ecc.) o a intellettuali che tenevano cenacolo nella città (Grassi, Speroni, D. Venier, ecc.) emergono per numero soprattutto amici o discepoli dell'Aretino (Acquaviva, Ricchi, Spira, Marcolini, Venier, Degli Eusebi, Alunno, Sansovino, Tiziano, ecc.)” (F.R. De' Angelis, Introduzione, in: N. Franco, “Le pistole vulgari”, Sala Bolognese, 1986,p. XIX).

Among the fictitious letters of the third book is the famous Risposta della Lucerna (‘Lantern's answer'). It is in that lengthy letter that Franco launched his satirical and raucously attack on learning and announced his iconoclastic aims. “Lucerna wanders about at night in order to see if what men write corresponds to reality. Lucerna comments that many men write sonnets and canzoni in praise of the beauty and goodness of women, but discovers from peering into bedrooms that their beauty is artifice […] Franco used the device of peering Lucerna to uncover foolishness beneath the pretensions of learning. In her wandering through the night Lucerna comes to bookstores and laughs at high-sounding titles like Enchiridio – possibly a mocking reference to Erasmus' Enchiridion militis Christiani. Warning to her subject, she coarsely ridicules dialogues, comedies, tragedies, books of epigrams, Petrarchan commentaries, Orlandi, and Rinaldi (Ariosto). Turning to the representatives of various branches of learning, Lucerna mocks pedants, i.e., literary scholars and teacher who could never write anything from their own imagination, but instead compose list of vocabularies, rules for writing verses, and books of sentences […] Other branches of learning bewilder men or try to prove as true what men know to be false. Contemporary philosophers are in a state of great confusion because of their own writing, involved as it is with principles, ends, prime matters, distinctions (Aristotle), atoms (Democritus), and ideas (Plato). Arithmeticians foolishly attempt to measure everything from the height of the air to the house of God the Father with their lines and angles. Logicians try to prove that si denies and that non affirms; syllogisms prove what everyone knows is false and never resolve anything. Legists are the ‘scum of nature's generations', thieves who sell evil words for good money. Franco rejected the vernacular authorities of the sixteenth century as well. He attacks Bembo for establishing rules of writing as if he were a duce threatening ‘prison of infamy' for those who disregard his decrees […] Among those who followed Bembo into pedantry were Molza, Speroni, Bernardo Tasso, Luigi Alamanni, Benedetto Varchi, and Luigi Tansillo” (P. Grendler, The Rejection of Learning in Mid-Cinquecento Italy, in: “Studies in the Reniassance”, XIII, 1966, pp. 235-236).

After the release of the Pistole and the subsequent escape from Venice, Franco continued to gather his letters in view of publication. The letters that are now preserved in the Vatican manuscript 5642 were intended to form book four of the Pistole, but remained unpublished (cf. F.R. De' Angelis, Epistolario di Nicolò Franco. Codice Vaticano Latino 5642, in: “FM Annali dell'Istituto di Filologia Moderna dell'Università di Roma”, II, 1979, pp. 81-113; and C. Boccia, Il ‘Quarto libro delle lettere' di Nicolò Franco: l'epistolario inedito del ms. Vaticano Latino 5642. Nuovi contributi ai casi di un peregrino ingegno, in: “Critica letteraria”, XXXIII, 2005, no. 1, pp. 3-46).

Completely lost is the autobiography that Franco wrote in his last years. “Da alcuni anni Franco stava riordinando la propria corrispondenza col proposito di pubblicare un Quarto libro delle Pistole. All'esecuzione parallela di progetti aventi finalità analoghe egli era d'altra parte avezzo, come mostrano la consonanza di temi e il passaggio di materiali tra le Pistole vulgari e i Dialoghi piacevoli, stampati a distanza di pochi mesi nel 1539, che ‘trovavano un terreno edificante nella prospettiva personale dell'autore'. Il libro di lettere, a lungo sperimentato sia in veste di curatore che di autore, e l'autobiografia rispondono dunque per Franco alle medesime esigenze. Sono due generi fortemente differenti - così come l'epistola e il dialogo - che possono essere adoperati per conseguire il medesimo fine; il secondo consente però di saldare la frammentarietà del primo, di eliminare ogni materiale accessorio per concentrarsi sulla dimensione compiutamente diegetica e autoesegetica della ‘istoria' di sé. L' ‘autobiografia' franchiana sarebbe certamente stata lontana dalle peculiarità che caratterizzano l'autobiografia moderna[…] tuttavia la sua progettazione, che conferma il ruolo determinante svolto dal libro di lettere cinquecentesco nel processo di legittimazione del parlare di sé, dimostra l'esistenza di uno stadio evolutivo intermedio tra le istanze autobiografiche che questo contiene in embrione e la consapevolezza con la quale Montaigne, appassionato cultore del genere, si sarebbe rappresentato offrendosi senza pudori allo sguardo del pubblico” (G. Genovese, La lettera oltre il genere. Il libro di lettere, dall'Aretino al Doni, e le origini dell'autobiografia moderna, Roma & Padova, 2009, pp. 174-175).

(Book I:)

Agnelli, Benedetto. Napoli, September 10, 1531 (l. 3r)

[Doria, Andrea I]. Napoli, September 13, 1531 (l. 3v)

Francis I, King of France. Napoli, September 13, 1531 (l.3v)

Orsini, Leone. Benevento, October 1, 1531 (l. 4r)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Benevento, October 3, 1531 (l. 4v)

Franco, [Vincenzo]. Benevento, October 8, 1531 (l. 5r)

Francis I. Napoli, October 8, 1531 (l. 5r)

Orsini, Leone. Napoli, October 23, 1531 (l. 5v)

Francis I. Napoli, October 25, 1531 (l. 6r)

Leonardi, Gian Giacomo. Roma, November 10, 1531 (l. 6r)

[Della Rovere, Francesco Maria I]. Roma, November 10, 1531 (l. 6v)

Agnelli, Benedetto. Roma, November 24, 1831 (l. 8r)

[Gonzaga, Eleonora]. Roma, October 10, 1531 (l. 8r)

id. Roma, October 13, 1531 (l. 8v)

id. Roma, October 15, 1531 (l. 8v)

id. Roma, October 20, 1531 (l. 9r)

id. Roma, October 24, 1531 (l. 9v)

id. Roma, October 30, 1531 (l. 9v)

Orsini, Leone. Napoli, December 20, 1531 (l. 10r)

Francis I. Napoli, January 2, 1532 (l. 10v)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Napoli, January 4, 1532 (l. 10v)

Francis I. Napoli, January 20, 1532 (l. 10v)

Franco, [Vincenzo]. Napoli, January 26, 1532 (l. 11r)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Benevento, February 12, 1532 (l. 11r)

Leonardi, Gian Giacomo. Benevento, February 20, 1532 (l. 11r)

[Della Rovere, Francesco Maria I]. Benevento, February 20, 1532 (l. 11v)

Agnelli, Benedetto. Benevento, March 4, 1532 (l. 11v)

[Acquaviva d'Aragona, Giannantonio Donato]. Roma, April 10, 1532 (l. 12v)

Francis I. Napoli, May 11, 1532 (l. 13r)

Aquila, Gaspare. Napoli, May 20 1532 (l. 13v)

Franco, [Vincenzo]. Napoli, May 24, 1532 (l. 13v)

Orsini, Leone. Benevento, June 2, 1532 (l. 14r)

Francis I. Benevento, May 25, 1532 (l. 14r)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Napoli, June 20, 1532 (l. 14v)

[Orsini, Camillo]. Napoli, July 2, 1532 (l. 15r)

Castriota, Costantino. Napoli, July 2, 1532 (l. 15v)

Franco, Porfirio. Benevento, August 4, 1532 (l. 16r)

[Doria, Andrea I]. Benevento, August 10, 1532 (l.16r.)

Francis I. Benevento, August 10, 1532 (l. 16r)

Agnelli, Benedetto. Napoli, October 20, 1532 (l. 17r)

Orsini, Leone. Napoli, December 28, 1533 (l. 17r)

Leonardi, Gian Giacomo. Napoli, February 10, 1533 (l. 18r)

[Della Rovere, Francesco Maria I]. Napoli, February 10, 1533 (l. 18r)

Franco, [Vincenzo]. Napoli, April 8, 1533 (l. 18v)

Francis I. Napoli, May 20, 1533 (l. 19r)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Napoli, July 12, 1533 (l. 19r)

Tridapale, Ludovico. Napoli, September 3, [1533] (l. 21r)

[Doria, Andrea I]. Napoli, November 15, 1533 (l. 21r)

Francis I. Napoli, November 15, 1533 (l. 21r)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Napoli, February 3, 1534 (l. 22v)

Orsini, Ottavio. Napoli, February 3, 1534 (l. 22v)

Castriota, Costantino. Napoli, May 14, 1534 (l. 23v)

Spatafora, Pompeo. Napoli, October 3, 1534 (l. 23v)

Castriota, Costantino. Napoli, November 4, 1534 (l. 24r)

Francis I. Napoli, February 3, 1535 (l. 24v)

Castriota, Costantino. Napoli, June 4, 1535 (l. 24v)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Napoli, June 10, 1535 (l. 24r)

[Castriota, Alfonso]. Napoli, October 2, 1535 (l. 25v)

Castriota, Costantino. Napoli, December 3, 1535 (l. 26r)

Mansella, Gian Antonio. Atripalda, February 2, 1536 (l. 26r)

Castriota, Costantino. Napoli, April 4, 1536 (l. 25v)

[Castriota, Alfonso]. Napoli, April 11, 1536 (l. 26v)

[Acquaviva d'Aragona, Giannantonio Donato]. Napoli, April 20, 1536 (l. 27r)

Francis I. Napoli, April 20, 1536 (l. 27r)

Filocalo da Troia, [Giovanni]. Napoli, April 22, 1536 (l. 27r)

Franco, [Vincenzo]. Venezia, June 25, 1536 (l. 27v)

Leonardi, Gian Giacomo. Venezia, July 3, 1536 (l. 27v)

Donato, Francesco. Venezia, July 11, 1536 (l. 28v)

Venier, Domenico. Venezia, July 12, 1536 (l. 28v)

Franco, [Vincenzo]. Venezia, July 14, 1536 (l. 29r).

Orsini, Leone. Venezia, July 17, 1536 (l. 29r)

Francis I. Venezia, July 25, 1536 (l. 29r)

Quirino, Girolamo. Venezia, August 11, 1536 (l. 29v)

Badoer, Federico. Venezia, September 2, 1536 (l. 30r)

Mansella, Gian Antonio. Venezia, October 3, 1536 (l. 30v)

Cautano,Vincenzo. Venezia, November 1, 1536 (l. 30v)

Mascambruni, Jacopo. Venezia, November 1, 1536 (l. 31r)

Alberti, Nicolò. Venezia, January 2, 1537 (l. 31v)

Badoer, Agostino. Venezia,February 6, 1537 (l. 31v)

Francis I. Venezia, November 10, 1537 (l. 32r)

Orsini, Leone. Venezia, March 2, 1537 (l. 32v)

Barbaro, Ermolao. Venezia,April 4, 1537 (l. 32r)

Barbaro, Daniele. Venezia, April 4, 1537 (l. 33r)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Venezia, April 5, 1537 (l. 33v)

Gardane, Antonio. Venezia, May 1, 1537 (l. 33v)

Speroni, [Sperone]. Venezia, May 2, 1537 (l. 34r)

Gritti, Domenico. Venezia, May 2, 1537 (l. 34r)

Grazia, Nicolò. Venezia, May 6, 1537 (l. 34v)

Loredan, Marco. Venezia, May 10, 1537 (l. 35r)

Francis I. Venezia, May 12, 1537 (l. 35r)

Orsini, Leone. Venezia, May 14, 1537 (l. 35v)

Agnelli, Benedetto. Venezia, May 15, 1537 (l. 36r)

Gonzaga Pallavicini, Luigia. Venezia, May 15, 1537 (l. 36r)

Barbaro, Ermolao. Venezia, May 17, 1537 (l. 36v)

Bernardi, Francesco. Venezia, May 18, 1537 (l. 37r)

Duodo, Domenico. Venezia, May 20, 1537 (l. 37r)

Doria, Jacopo. Venezia, May 23, 1537 (l. 37r)

Rangoni, Guido. Venezia, May 23, 1537 (l. 37v)

Manuzio, Paolo. Venezia, May 26, 1537 (l. 37v)

Ricchi, Agostino. Venezia, May 29, 1537 (l. 38r)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Venezia, May 30, 1537 (l. 38v)

Franco, [Vincenzo]. Venezia, June 1, 1537 (l. 38v)

Balsamo, Tommaso. Venezia, June 2, 1537 (l. 38v)

Giustiniani, Giovanni. Venezia, June 8, 1537 (l. 39r)

Alunno, Francesco. Venezia, June 7, 1537 (l. 39r)

Francis I. Venezia, June 9, 1537 (l. 39v)

Molino, Vincenzo. Venezia, June 12, 1537 (l. 40r)

Venier, Francesco. Venezia, June 13, 1537 (l. 40r)

Venier, Lorenzo, Venezia, June 13, 1537 (l. 40r)

Negroni, Valerio. Venezia, June 20, 1537 (l. 40v)

(Book II:)

[Gonzaga, Federico II]. Venezia, August 2, 1537 (l. 41r)

Agnelli, Giovanni. Venezia, August 3, 1537 (l. 41r)

Leonardi, Giovanni Giacomo. Venezia, August 4, 1537 (l. 41v)

Agnelli, Benedetto. Venezia, August 6, 1537 (l. 41v)

Armignac, Georges d'. Venezia, August 7, 1537 (l. 42r)

Tovillion, Giovanni. Venezia, August 7, 1537 (l. 42r)

Francis I. Venezia, September 3, 1537 (l. 42v)

Grimani,Vincenzo. Venezia, September 20, 1537 (l. 43r)

Molino, Marco. Venezia, October 10, 1537 (l. 43r)

Cappello, Antonio. Venezia, October 16, 1537 (l. 43v)

Da Legge, Giovanni. Venezia, October 20, 1537 (l. 43v)

Orsini, Leone. Venezia, October 25, 1537 (l. 44r)

Francis I. Venezia, October 35, 1537 (l. 44r)

Vittori, Cristoforo. Venezia, November 15, 1537 (l. 44v)

Bragadino, Giulio. Venezia, November 30, 1537 (l. 45r)

Giustiniani, Giovanni. Venezia, December 2, 1537 (l. 45r)

Del Giallo, Jacopo. Venezia, December 5, 1537 (l. 45v)

Leoni, Girolamo. Venezia, December 17, 1537 (l. 45v)

Leoni, Piero. Venezia, December 18, 1537 (l. 46r)

Quirino, Francesco. Venezia, December 20, 1537 (l. 46r)

[Gonzaga, Federico II]. Venezia, January 1, 1538 (l.46v.)

Agnelli, Giovanni. Venezia, January 3, 1538 (l. 46v)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Venezia, January 6, 1538 (l. 37r)

Orsini, Valerio. Venezia, January 7, 1538 (l. 47r)

Orsini, Paolo. Venezia, January 9, 1538 (l. 47v)

Alamanni, Luigi. Venezia, January 10, 1538 (l. 48r)

Francis I. Venezia, January 10, 1538 (l. 48r)

Da Legge, [Giovanni]. Venezia, January 11, 1538 (l. 48v)

Contarini, Giulio. Venezia, January 11, 1538 (l. 49r)

Orsini, Leone. Venezia, January 17, 1538 (l. 49v)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Venezia, January 17, 1538 (l. 49v)

Corner, Jacopo. Venezia, January 20, 1538 (l. 49v)

Corner, Girolamo. Venezia, February 2, 1538 (l. 50r)

Corner, Giovanni. Venezia, February 3, 1538 (l. 50v)

Mansella, Gian Antonio. Venezia, February 4, 1538 (l. 50v)

Cautano, Vincenzo. Venezia, February 6, 1538 (l. 51r)

Pesaro, Benedetto. Venezia, February 16, 1538 (l. 51v)

Francis I. Venezia, February 2, 1538 (l. 551v)

Guinisio, Giovanni Francesco. Venezia, February 3, 1538 (l. 52r)

Gonzaga, Cagnino. Venezia, February 5, 1538 (l. 52r)

Loredan, Leonardo. Venezia, February 6, 1538 (l. 52v)

Zeno, Piero. Venezia, February 6, 1538 (l. 52v)

Zeno, Caterino. Venezia, February 8, 1538 (l. 53r)

Zeno, Nicolò. Venezia, February 8, 1538 (l. 53r)

Della Paccana, Francesco. Venezia, February 11, 1538 (l. 53r)

[Vecellio], Tiziano. Venezia, February 11, 1538 (l. 53v)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Venezia, February 11, 1538 (l. 53v)

Bonifacio da Narni. Venezia, February 11, 1538 (l. 54r)

Dragonzino, Giovanbattista. Venezia, February 12, 1538 (l. 54v)

id. Venezia, February 12, 1538 (l. 54v)

Francis I. Venezia, February 13, 1538 (l. 54v)

Cappello, Bernardo. Venezia, February 13, 1538 (l. 55r)

Molino, Girolamo. Venezia, February 13, 1538 (l. 55v)

Navagero, Bernardo. Venezia, February 13, 1538 (l. 55v)

Orsini, Leone. Venezia, February 13, 1538 (l. 56r)

Cicogna, Polo. Venezia, February 16, 1538 (l. 56v)

Francis I. Venezia, March 16, 1538 (l. 57r)

Bufalo, Alfonso. Venezia, February 18, 1538 (l. 57v)

Loredan, Marco. Venezia, February 20, 1538 (l. 57v)

Venier, Domenico. Venezia, February 20, 1538 (l. 58r)

Zorzi, Luigi. Venezia, February 20 , 1538 (l. 58r)

Badoer, Federico. Venezia, February 21, 1538 (l. 58v)

Contarini, Andrea. Venezia, February 21, 1538 (l. 58v)

Pirotto, Bartolomeo. Venezia, March 2, 1538 (l. 58v)

Franco, [Vincenzo]. Venezia, March 2, 1538 (l. 59r)

Orsini, Leone. Venezia, March 7, 1538 (l. 59v)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Venezia, March 7, 1538 (l. 59v)

Orsini, Leone. Venezia, March 14, 1538 (l. 60r)

Bichi, Annibale. Venezia, March 20, 1538 (l. 60v)

Amaranto, Sempronio. Venezia, March 21, 1538 (l. 61r)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Venezia, March 21, 1538 (l. 61r)

Corner, Andrea. Venezia, March 24, 1538 (l. 63v)

Gherardo, Quinto. Venezia, March 24, 1538 (l. 64r)

Diedo, Fantin. Venezia, March 26, 1538 (l. 64r)

Ricchi, Agostino. Venezia, March 26, 1538 (l. 64v)

Lando, Piero. Venezia, March 8, 1538 (l. 65r)

Corner Cavalier, [?] (son of Giovanni). Venezia, March 23, 1538 (l. 65r)

Tridapale, Ludovico. Venezia, March 28, 1538 (l. 65v)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Venezia, March 30, 1538 (l. 65v)

Francis I. Venezia, April 2, 1538 (l. 65v)

Corner, Giorgio. Venezia, April 2, 1538 (l. 66r)

Castriota, Costantino. Venezia, April 3, 1538 (l. 65v)

Zeno, Piero. Venezia, April 3, 1538 (l. 66v)

Zeno, Marco. Venezia, April 3, 1538 (l. 66v)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Venezia, April 4, 1538 (l. 67r)

Giordano, Camillo. Venezia, April 6, 1538 (l. 67r)

Orsini, Leone. Venezia, April 12, 1538 (l. 67v)

Savelli, Ostilio. Venezia, April 22, 1538 (l. 68v)

Badoer, Sebastiano. Venezia, April 23, 1538 (l. 69v)

[Lorraine, Jean de]. Venezia, April 25, 1538 (l. 69v)

Francis I. Venezia, April 27, 1538 (l. 70v)

Doria, Jacopo. Venezia, May, 1538 (l. 71r)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Venezia, May 4, 1538 (l. 71v)

Eusebio, Ambrogio. Venezia, May 4, 1538 (l. 71v)

De Franceschi, Piero. Venezia, May 6, 1538 (l. 72r)

Franco, [Vincenzo]. Venezia, May 7, 1538 (l. 72r)

Orini, Francesco. Venezia, May 7, 1538 (l. 72v)

Corner, Marcantonio. Venezia, May 7, 1538 (l. 72v)

Alberti, Nicolò. Venezia, May 8, 1538 (l. 72v)

id. Venezia, May 9, 1538 (l. 73r)

id. Venezia, May 15, 1538 (l. 73r)

Loredan, Marco. Venezia, May 16, 1538 (l. 74r)

Cappello, Michele. Venezia, June 10, 1538 (l. 7r)

Pecoreo, Francesco. Venezia, June 14, 1538 (l. 75r)

Diedo, Antonio. Venezia, June 21, 1538 (l. 75v)

D'Angeli, Luigi. Venezia, June 21, 1538 (l. 75v)

Loredan, Giorgio. Venezia, July 3, 1538 (l. 76r)

Mocenigo, Marcantonio. Venezia, July 4, 1538 (l. 76r)

Giustiniani, Giovanni. Venezia, July 5, 1538 (l. 76v)

Maccasole, Francesco. Venezia, July 5, 1538 (l. 76v)

Bonacolsi, Bartolomeo. Venezia, July 7, 1538 (l. 77r)

Abate di Carrara. Venezia, July 10, 1538 (l. 77v)

Muscolo, Antonio. Venezia, July 15, 1538 (l. 78r)

Orsini, Enrico. Venezia, July 20, 1538 (l. 78r)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Venezia, July 22, 1538 (l. 78v)

[Pio, Rodolfo]. Venezia, July 22, 1538 (l. 78v)

Milanesi, Giovanbattista. Venezia, July 24, 1538 (l. 79r)

Marcolini, Francesco. Venezia, July 26, 1538 (l. 89v)

Coccio, Francesco. Venezia, July 25, 1538 (l. 89v)

Gardano, Ventura. Venezia, July 28, 1538 (l. 80r)

Bonacolsi, Giovanni Bartolomeo. Venezia, July 31, 1538 (l. 80v)

Orsini, Leone. Venezia, 1538 (l. 81r)

(Book III:)

Pistola di M. Nicolò Franco scritta alla Lucerna. Venezia, 1538 (l. 82r)

Risposta della Lucerna. (l. 82r)

Giustiniani, Giovanni. Venezia, August 2, 1538 (l. 89v)

Delfin, Giovanni. Venezia, August 3, 1538 (l. 90v)

Venier, Marcantonio. Venezia, August 4, 1538 (l. 90v)

Perini, Girolamo. Venezia, August 4, 1538 (l. 91r)

Priuli, Marco. Venezia, August 5, 1538 (l. 91r)

Malipiero, Nicolò. Venezia, August 6, 1538 (l.91r.)

De Salis, Bartolomeo. Venezia, August 6, 1538 (l. 91v)

Barbarigo, Pierantonio. Venezia, August 8, 1538 (l. 92r)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Venezia, August 10, 1538 (l. 92r)

Giustiniani, Sebastiano. Venezia, 1538 (l. 93r)

Pistola di M. Nicolò Franco ne la quale, la Libertà scrive a la Servitù, Venezia, 1538 (l. 93r)

Gradenigo Monsignor. Venezia, August 11, 1538 (l. 94r)

Valvasone, Marco. Venezia, August 12, 1538 (l. 94v)

Contarini, Giovanni Bernardo. Venezia, August 12, 1538 (l. 94v)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Venezia, August 13, 1538 (l. 94v)

Mocenigo, Tommaso. Venezia, August 13, 1538 (l. 95r)

Moro, Damiano. Venezia, August 15, 1538 (l. 95r)

Orsini, Leone. Padova, August 22, 1538 (l. 95r)

Borgia, [Girolamo]. Padova, August 22, 1538 (l. 95v)

Anisio, [Giovanni Francesco]. Venezia, August 10, 1538 (l. 96v)

Pistola di M. Nicolo Franco, ne la quale scrive a le puttane. 1538 (l. 97v)

Risposta delle puttane. (l. 100v)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. (l. 101r)

Dalle Maniche, Ercole. Venezia, September 13, 1538 (l. 101v)

Fortunio, [Domenico?]. Venezia, 1538 (l. 101v)

Pistola di M. Nicolò Franco, ne la quale scrive ad Amore. Venezia, 1538 (l. 102r)

Risposta del dio Cupido. (l. 103v)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Venezia, September 20, 1538 (l. 104r)

Varchi, [Benedetto]. Venezia, 1538 (l. 104r)

Pistola di M. Nicolò Franco, ne la quale scrive a la Fama. (l. 104)

Zorzi, Francesco. Venezia,1538 (l. 105v)

Pistola di M. Nicolò Franco, ne la quale scrive a la Fortuna. (l. 105v)

Gherardo, Quinto. Venezia, 1538 (l. 106v)

Pistola di M. Nicolò Franco, ne la quale scrive al Petrarca. Venezia, 1538 (l. 106v)

Annichini, Luigi. Venezia, September 21, 1538 (l. 107v)

Sansovino, [Jacopo]. Venezia, September 24, 1538 (l. 108r)

[Della Rovere, Guidobaldo], Duke of Camerino. Venezia, September 28, 1538 (l. 108v)

Andriotto, Pomponio. Venezia, September 29, 1538 (l. 109r)

Bustrone, Girolamo. Venezia, September 30, 1538 (l. 109v)

Della Tripalda, Crispino. Venezia, October 2, 1538 (l. 110r)

Scalaleone, Gianluigi. Venezia, October 3, 1538 (l. 110v)

Colantonio, Gregorio. Venezia, October 4, 1538 (l. 110v)

Fogliani, Ludovico. Venezia, October 5, 1538 (l. 111r)

Orsini, Leone. Venezia, October 7, 1538 (l. 111v)

Manuzio, Paolo. Venezia, October 7, 1538 (l. 111v)

Bonfadio, Jacopo. Venezia, October 7, 1538 (l. 111v)

Mocenigo, Monsignor. Venezia, October 9, 1538 (l.112r.)

Pisani, [Francesco]. Venezia, October 9, 1538 (l. 112r)

[Vignali, Antonio called] Arsiccio Intronato. Venezia, October 11, 1538 (l. 112v)

Angeriano, Giovanbattista. Venezia, October 13, 1538 (l. 113v)

Castriota, Costantino. Venezia, October 15, 1538 (l. 115r)

Cautano, Vincenzo. Venezia, October 17, 1538 (l. 115r)

Mascambruni, Prospero. Venezia, October 19, 1538 (l. 115v)

Pignoli, Bonifacio. Venezia, October 21, 1538 (l. 116r)

id. Venezia, November 2, 1538 (l. 116r)

Bartolino, Leonardo. Venezia, November 4, 1538 (l. 117r)

Giordano, Camillo. Venezia, 1538 (l. 117r)

Pistola di M. Nicolò Franco, ne la quale scrive a la Invidia. (l. 117)

Nicolò Franco, born of a modest family in Benevento, was first tutored by his brother Vincenzo, a schoolmaster,  and later sought his fortune in the literary circles of the nearby Naples. In 1535 he published his first work, a collection of Latin epigrams Hisabella (Naples, Matteo Cancer). One year later he moved to Venice, where through his friendship with the typographer Francesco Marcolini and the poet Quinto Gherardo, he was introduced in the circle of Pietro Aretino. The latter took him as a secretary and entrusted to him the publication of his first book of letters, in which he repeatedly praised the qualities of his new protégé, predicting him a brilliant career. But the characters of the two men were similar to such a degree that they precluded a lasting friendship.

Whatever the reason for the break (probably Franco's intention to publish a book of letters in imitation of that of his master), it came violently in summer of 1538. Thereafter the works of both became a battleground of hostility. Aretino completely suppressed the laudatory remarks on Franco in the later editions of his letters and Franco painted a grotesque portrait of Aretino in the letter A la Invidia (To Jealousy). In mid-1539 he was slashed in the face by one of Aretino's secretaries. When the wound had healed, Franco resolved to leave Venice, where his position had became too risky. In September and October of that year, when the author had already recovered at Casale Monferrato (where he accidentally stopped on his way to France), appeared two of his works destined to have a long-term success: the Dialoghi piacevoli and the dialogue Il Petrarchista, both printed in Venice by Giovanni Giolito.

In Casale, Franco remained for seven years, founding the Accademia degli Argonauti and publishing the Rime contro Pietro Aretino, the Priapea (a collection of satirical and erotic poems which is known only through the third enlarged edition that the author had printed in Basle in 1548), and the Dialogo dove si ragiona delle bellezze. In 1546 he moved to Mantua, where he published the long novel La Philena (1547).

In 1548, after a short stay in Basel, he entered the service of Giovanni Cantelmo, who traveled extensively across the peninsula before settling in Cosenza. Discharged in 1552, and after a brief period in the service of the Prince of Bisignano, Franco tried his luck in Rome in 1555 with the election of Pope Paul IV. In Rome, however, reigned an atmosphere of distrust against him because of the anticlerical invective in his Priapea. Arrested for the first time in 1558 and imprisoned for 8 month, from 1560 to 1568 Franco lived in Rome enjoying a relative calm thanks to the protection of Cardinal Giovanni Morone.

In the years of the pontificate of Pius IV, he wrote a violent pamphlet against the Carafa family, which after the election of the more intransigent Pius V caused him a second arrest in September 1568. The trial ended in February 1570 with a death sentence. Franco was hanged on the bridge of Castel Sant'Angelo on March 11. The death penalty looked disproportionate even to his contemporaries. All his works were prohibited donec expurgentur and put on the Index. The Pistole, like his other works, were republished in expurgated edition in 1604 (Vicenza) and 1615 (Venezia) (cf. C. Simiani, La vita e le opere di Niccolò Franco, Torino, 1894, passim).

Franco played a key role in the birth and development of the Italian epistolography. As a member of Aretino's circle, having a good knowledge of classical languages, he translated many works for his master, among which Erasmus' De conscribendis epistolis (Basle, 1522). In all likelihood, then, it was through the mediation of Franco, a great admirer of the Dutch humanist, that Aretino decided to prepare for printing a collection of his letters (cf. C. Cairns, Nicolò Franco, l'umanesimo meridionale e la nascita dell'epistolografia in volgare, in: “Cultura meridionale e letteratura italiana. I modelli narrativi dell'età moderna, Atti dell'XI Congresso AISLLI, Napoli & Salerno, 14-18 aprile, 1982”, P. Giannantonio, ed., Napoli, 1985, pp. 119-128).

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