Cento lettere scritte da [...], il Fermo Academico Innominato, Invaghito, & Olimpico. Tutte in un soggetto; cioè di mandare a donare copie stampate della sua Boscareccia, e della sua tragedia di Semiramis

8vo. (10), 105, (5) pp. A-G⁸, H⁴. Bound in nineteenth century yellow paper (on the front cover manuscript ownership entry by the famous collector Leonardo Trissino, dated Firenze 1839).

Basso, pp. 344-345; Edit 16, CNCE 49830; Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense, Le edizioni del XVI secolo, (I) Edizioni lombarde, (Milano, 1981), p. 133, no. 539.

FIRST AND ONLY EDITION of this collection of one hundred letters written to accompany copies of his tragedy Semiramis and of his pastoral play Semiramis boschereccia, to be sent to the addressees of the letters. Both plays were printed in Bergamo in 1593. This is confirmed in the dedication to Agostino Gambarelli (Nancy, January 1, 1594). Manfredi says that he obtained from the typographer Comin Ventura one hundred copies of these two works, and that he decided to present them to friends and patrons jointly with a letter. Many secretaries at that time used to send identical letters to different recipients, whereas Manfredi preferred to personalize each accompanying letter. Seen the novelty of the enterprise and the great variety of the letters, he considered them worthy of being published, also in view of obtaining a critic of his plays.

In addition to the one hundred letters, “une dernière lettre est ajoutée à la fin du livre, addressée, come l'épître dédicatroire, au responsable des deux Semiramis, et datée du 1^er août 1593: elle accompagne l'expédition des 100 lettres precedents, qu'Agostino Gambarelli devra faire parvenir à leurs destinataires, le plus souvent jointes aux exemplaires qu'il a la charge de distribuer” (J. Basso, Le genre epistolaire en langue italienne (1538-1662). Répertoire chronologique et analytique, Roma & Nancy, 1990, II, p. 345).

In a letter addressed to Veronica Franco (Nancy, July 20, 1593), Manfredi thanks her for the sonnet she had sent to him in praise of the tragedy Semiramis, and announces his gift of the two volumes. He also asks her to keep him informed about the imminent publication of an epic poem by her, which, however, was never published and remained totally unknown. This letter seems to have escaped to the attention of M.F. Rosenthal, who quotes only another letter of Manfredi to Franco dated Nancy, October 30, 1591, which was published in 1606 in Manfredi's Lettere brevissime (cf. The Honest Courtesan. Veronica Franco, Citizen and Writer in Sixteenth-Century Venice, Chicago & London, 1992, pp. 152 and 318).

All the letters are arranged in alphabetical order by the first name of the addressees, and are dated Nancy, July 1593, except for the last one. The first is misdated 1583. The number in the list below indicates the day of the month of July 1593, in which a letter was written.

Cibo Malaspina, Alderano. 26 (p. 1)

Sforza, Alessandro. 5 (p. 2)

Asinari, Alfonso. 21 (p. 2)

Alfonso d'Este. 9 (p. 3)

Ingegneri, Angelo. 29 (p. 4)

Manfredi, Annibale. 9 (p. 5)

Beffa Negrini, Antonio. 19 (p. 6)

Canacci, Antonio. 11 (p. 8)

Dalla Cornia, Ascanio. 16 (p. 9)

Ballentini, Attilio. 25 (p. 10)

Rangoni Guerrieri, Barbara. 8 (p. 11)

Sanseverino, Barbara. 3 (p. 12)

Torelli Benedetti, Barbara. 2 (p. 13)

Guarini, Battista. 23 (p. 14)

Stroppiani Martinengo, Beatrice. 15 (p. 15)

Bulgarini, Belisario. 22 (p. 16)

Baldi, Bernardino. 20 (p. 17)

Camilli, Camillo. 12 (p. 18)

Savoia, Carlo Emanuele Filiberto di. 15 (p. 19)

Gonzaga, Carlo. 8 (p. 20)

Parona, Cesare. 15 (p. 21)

Simonetta, Cesare. 25 (p. 22)

Trotti, Cesare. 9 (p. 23)

Medici, Cristina di Lorena de'. 10 (p. 24)

Buoncompagni, Cristofano. 22 (p. 25)

Bracceschi, Corintia. 2 (p. 26)

Arditio, Curzio. 28 (p. 27)

Lorraine, Dorothée de. 31 (p. 28)

Caetani, Enrico. 14 (p. 29)

Gonzaga, Ercole. 5 (p. 30)

Sfondrati, Ercole. 5 (p. 30)

Visdomini, Eugenio. 4 (p. 31)

Medici, Ferdinando de'. 10 (p. 32)

Gonzaga, Ferrante. 7 (p. 33)

Farnese, Ferrante. 14 (p. 34)

Gallerati, Ferrante. 18 (p. 35)

Gonzaga, Ferrante. 17 (p. 36)

Rossi, Ferrante. 27 (p. 37)

Carriuola, Francesco. 19 (p. 38)

Della Rovere, Francesco Maria Feltre. 25 (p. 39)

Panigarola, Francesco. 21 (p. 40)

Patrizi, Francesco. 9 (p. 41)

Sangiorgi, Francesco. 30 (p. 42)

Sforza, Francesco. 14 (p. 43)

Passerini, Fulvio. 29 (p. 45)

Bambasi, Gabriello. 2 (p. 46)

Pico della Mirandola, Galeotto. 16 (p. 47)

Barbaro, Giacomo. 12 (p. 48)

Buoncompagni, Giacomo. 22 (p. 49)

Mazzoni, Giacomo. 6 (p. 50)

Puelli, Giovanni Francesco. 4 (p. 51)

Fratta, Giovanni. 27 (p. 52)

Rossi, Giovanni Galeazzo. 13 (p. 54)

Malpigli, Giovanni Lorenzo. 17 (p. 55)

Agaccio, Giovanni Maria. 4 (p. 56)

Volpe, Giovanni Matteo. 7 (p. 57)

Arcelli, Girolamo. 23 (p. 58)

Gondi, Girolamo. 10 (p. 59)

Pallantieri, Girolamo. 21 (p. 60)

Zoppio, Girolamo. 13 (p. 61)

Asinari Pavesi, Giulia. 11 (p. 62)

Gonzaga, Giulio Cesare. 27 (p. 63)

Poiana, Giulio. 24 (p. 64)

Manfredi, Guido Antonio. 6 (p. 65)

Bonarelli dalla Rovere, Guidobaldo. 26 (p. 66)

Farnese Borromeo, Ersilia. 5 (p. 67)

Pallavicini Lupi, Isabella. 3 (p. 68)

Cesis, Lancinia. 4 (p. 69)

Feltre dalla Rovere d'Avalos d'Aragona, Lavinia. 11 (p. 70)

Medici Gonzaga, Leonora. 6 (p. 71)

Viaro, Lorenzo. 12 (p. 72)

Pini Rossi, Lucrezia. 13 (p. 73)

Campiglia, Maddalena. 14 (p. 74)

Martinengo, Marcantonio. 23 (p. 75)

Asinari Valperga, Margherita. 15 (p. 78)

Gorni Donesmondi, Margherita. 8 (p. 77)

Valperga Sangiorgi, Margherita. 15 (p. 78)

Medici, Maria de'. 10 (p. 79)

Farnese, Odoardo. 1 (p. 80)

Capponi, Orazio. 28 (p. 81)

Guargante, Orazio. 12 (p. 83)

Navazzotti, Orazio. 7 (p. 84)

Scotti, Orazio. 2 (p. 85)

Fiera, Ottavio. 30 (p. 86)

Pandini, Paolo Camillo. 5 (p. 87)

Teggia, Paolo. 11 (p. 88)

Cataneo, Perseo. 18 (p. 89)

Cataneo, Pietro. 14 (p. 90)

Cresci, Pietro. 20 (p. 91)

Volpe, Pietro Paolo. 24 (p. 92)

Torelli, Pomponio. 3 (p. 93)

Cataneo, Prospero. 19 (p. 94)

Farnese, Ranuccio. 1 (p. 95)

Pico Salviati, Penea. 16 (p. 96)

Guazzo, Stefano. 7 (p. 97)

Tasso, Torquato. 29 (p. 98)

Passerini, Valerio. 10 (p. 99)

Franco, Veronica. 20 (p. 100)

Gonzaga, Vincenzo. 6 (p. 101)

Piissimi, Vittoria. 28 (p. 102)

Gambarelli, Agostino. August 1 (p. 103)

Muzio Manfredi, a nobleman born in Cesena, after a short stay at the Roman court, moved around 1580 to Parma, where he entered the service of the Farnese family. As a member of the Accademia degli Innominati, he knew the playwrights Pomponio Torelli and Giovan Battista Guarini. In Parma he published an important edition of Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata (1581). In 1584 he found a patron in the person of Ferrante II Gonzaga at Guastalla, and in 1591 became secretary to the Duchess Dorothea of Lorraine, first at Tortona (where he got married with Ippolita Benigni, one of the Duchess' court ladies), and later at Nancy (cf. M.E. Briard, Le poète Muzio Manfredi et Dorothea de Lorraine, duchesse de Brunswick, in: “Journal de la Société d'archéologie lorraine”, XXXVIII, 1889, pp. 29-35).

“Intrapresa una brillante carriera di poeta cortigiano e galante animatore di salotti, che lo vede protagonista nelle Corti romana, parmense e guastallese, il poeta giunge ai vertici della sua fortuna di artista e ‘gentiluomo' intorno alla metà degli anni '80. Ma dopo quella data, una serie di vicissitudini e di gravi incidenti con la classe signorile che fino ad allora lo aveva sostenuto e gratificato, lo porterà, fra momenti travagliati e dolorosi, ad una vecchiaia di emarginazione e di miseria” (L. Denarosi, Il principe e il letterato: due carteggi inediti di Muzio Manfredi, in: “Studi italiani”, 1997, 9, no. 1, p. 153).

His bitter diatribe against the Duke of Mantua, Vincenzo Gonzaga, contained in the dedication of the Semiramis boschereccia, costed him the latter's favour, which Manfredi tried in vain to regain after his return from France. He spent his last years in extreme poverty plying between Pavia, Ravenna, and Rome (cf. M.A. Bertolotti, Muzio Manfredi e Passi Giuseppe letterati in relazione col duca di Mantova, in: “Il Buonarroti”, Roma, 1888, III, p. 119 ff.).

Manfredi was a prolific writer and a member of various important academies (Accademia dei Confusi in Bologna, Accademia degli Invaghiti in Ferrara, and Accademia Olimpica in Vicenza). His numerous madrigals (1587) were very popular among contemporary musicians, who set many of them to music. Among his others publications, are poems (Rime, 1575), a work called Sogno amoroso (1596), the poetic garland Cento donne cantate (1580), and the collection Lettere brevissime (1606), in which he discusses topics related to tragedy.

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