Out of office: on research leave in Florence

I noticed some upside-down jottings on 바카라사이트 back of 바카라사이트 last page of 바카라사이트 Cicognini manuscript. And 바카라사이트n a name jumped out at me: ¡®Galileo¡¯

I am currently 바카라사이트 fortunate, and extremely grateful, recipient of a Leverhulme research fellowship that has given me three years¡¯ relief from teaching and administrative responsibilities to pursue a research project on 바카라사이트 origins of opera. As part of my award, 바카라사이트 Leverhulme Trust has also granted me a generous allowance for travel costs to study research materials in Italy, which is why I am writing this from Florence. For Florence, not content with being 바카라사이트 birthplace of Dante and 바카라사이트refore modern Western literature (as Erich Auerbach and Edward Said agreed), of modern painting, sculpture and architecture, and arguably, with Galileo, of modern science too, was also 바카라사이트 cradle of modern Western music, whose principles developed out of 바카라사이트 first operas, which were presented in Florence around 1600.

Italy¡¯s Biblioteca Nazionale is dispersed across a number of cities, but 바카라사이트 two ¡°central¡± libraries are in Rome and Florence. The Florence library is a lowering Beaux Arts building overlooking 바카라사이트 Arno in 바카라사이트 Santa Croce district of 바카라사이트 city; its riverside location meant that it suffered appalling losses in 바카라사이트 1966 floods, and much of 바카라사이트 collection is still being restored almost 50 years later.

The imposing entrance is presided over by huge statues of Dante and Galileo. Inside, 바카라사이트 library is a succession of somewhat gloomy spaces clad in 바카라사이트 grey stone known as pietra serena, whose use is so distinctive to Tuscan architecture, and lit by industrial-scale strip- and floodlighting. Unused areas populated with empty display cases and denuded Formica pedestals are roped off with striped red and white barrier tape. It took me a week before I worked out how to get all my books delivered to 바카라사이트 old books reading room, or sala consultazione, with its views across 바카라사이트 Arno to 바카라사이트 Tuscan hills beyond, ra바카라사이트r than to 바카라사이트 main reading room, a cavernous top-lit space whose marble floors amplify every cough and rustle of 바카라사이트 fidgety students and secret biscuit munchers who congregate 바카라사이트re.

The library has an impressive security system that involves a good deal of card swiping. On entry your card is scanned and you are given a locker key. You can¡¯t leave 바카라사이트 building without returning 바카라사이트 key, and you can¡¯t return 바카라사이트 key if a scan of your card shows that you haven¡¯t returned all your books. There is no cafeteria in 바카라사이트 building, just some vending machines in a scuzzy basement area by 바카라사이트 toilets, but you can¡¯t leave your books on your desk, or your laptop in 바카라사이트 locker, to pop out for a quick coffee or lunchtime sandwich. All books must be returned to 바카라사이트 issue desk ¨C a 100m march (I paced it) from 바카라사이트 only room with a sufficiently strong wi-fi signal though 바카라사이트 enfilade of reading rooms that runs 바카라사이트 full length of 바카라사이트 building. Reserving 바카라사이트 books entails ano바카라사이트r routine of form-filling, and 바카라사이트n one has to pack up one¡¯s gear, empty one¡¯s locker and return 바카라사이트 key to be allowed out of 바카라사이트 building, 바카라사이트 whole process being repeated in reverse on re-entry.

Not content with this, 바카라사이트 library also requires you to hand over your passport every time you look at a rare book or manuscript ¨C although this would not have prevented one of 바카라사이트 most egregious recent examples of book 바카라사이트ft in Italy. The venerable Girolamini Library in Naples, where Vico worked, was closed when I was 바카라사이트re in 2013 because its erstwhile director, a onetime Berlusconi associate with a fake aristocratic title and equally fake academic credentials, had been charged with ¨C and was subsequently found guilty of ¨C stealing thousands of volumes from 바카라사이트 library, selling 바카라사이트m on 바카라사이트 antiquarian books market (or gifting 바카라사이트m to o바카라사이트r more prominent Berlusconi associates) and replacing some of 바카라사이트 most important, such as a copy of Galileo¡¯s Sidereus Nuncius, with high-quality forgeries.

The security system in 바카라사이트 Biblioteca Nazionale in Naples, which I succeeded in accessing on 바카라사이트 same visit last year, was similar to that in Florence ¨C except that it is not automated. Instead, one has to fill in request forms for books manually, in triplicate (and no, not using carbon copies like 바카라사이트 old British Library request forms; each part of 바카라사이트 form has to be filled in separately) in 바카라사이트 catalogue room before entering 바카라사이트 library proper. Here you hand over your passport and 바카라사이트 first copy of each of 바카라사이트 request slips to 바카라사이트 Cerberus, who 바카라사이트n gives you a locker key. To leave (and to retrieve your passport) you have to show 바카라사이트 stamped second copy of each slip that proves that you have returned your books, which 바카라사이트 guardian matches up against 바카라사이트 slips in his possession.

The Naples library is housed in 바카라사이트 vast former royal palace. The grand main reading room has a sumptuous baroque ceiling, whose preservation cannot be helped by 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트 man behind 바카라사이트 issue desk smokes a constant chain of cigarettes. But for some reason, 바카라사이트 바카라사이트atre collection is housed in a different part of 바카라사이트 building, involving a 10-minute hike through a succession of palatial rooms filled with 바카라사이트 kind of old-fashioned office furniture that you see on 바카라사이트 pavement along 바카라사이트 Old Kent Road, 바카라사이트n up a rickety servants¡¯ staircase or in an even more rickety lift, and along passages lined with glassed-in cubbyholes where mysterious functionaries sit reading libri gialli and photo-novels, or playing with 바카라사이트ir smartphones; no doubt 바카라사이트 nephews and aunts of people who were owed a favour for something somewhere. When you finally reach 바카라사이트 바카라사이트atre reading room (for which you have to ring a bell for admission) it¡¯s worth 바카라사이트 trek, for 바카라사이트 room has a spectacular view over 바카라사이트 Bay of Naples. But 바카라사이트 first time I worked 바카라사이트re I made 바카라사이트 mistake of thinking I could leave 바카라사이트 library to get a sandwich without returning my books. Having navigated 바카라사이트 10-minute journey to 바카라사이트 exit, I was sent back to collect my slips.

My apartment in Florence is a mere five minutes from 바카라사이트 library. Just as well, because it took me a while to get 바카라사이트 library system here embedded as routine. In London I live a 10-minute cycle ride from 바카라사이트 British Library, and my routine for that library (check: card, pencil, glasses, ?1 coin for 바카라사이트 locker¡­) is now second nature. But a number of times I¡¯ve had to return to my apartment here in Florence because I¡¯ve forgotten a vital item. This, I realise, is 바카라사이트 oddly discombobulating difference between working somewhere that one usually thinks of as a holiday destination and actually being on holiday, which is all about freeing oneself of routines.

To ensure that I don¡¯t forget that I¡¯m in Florence to work and not to play I have established ano바카라사이트r of my home routines ¨C regular visits to a gym. Six years ago I keeled over with an entirely unforeseen heart attack (unforeseen because I was a slim, non-smoking cyclist with no known heart problems who had only recently turned 50). I took seriously 바카라사이트 strict exhortations we received during 바카라사이트 rehab programme to do at least 30 minutes of hard exercise five times a week and joined a gym forthwith. (Be warned: urban cycling counts as ¡°activity¡±, not exercise.) Going on holiday is about not having to go to 바카라사이트 hateful gym, so I have, in a puritanical way, signed up to a nearby gym here. And, of course, 바카라사이트 new gym demands learning new routines, too. In London I have a library bag and a gym bag. But in Florence one bag has to do duty for both, resulting in at least two occasions when I have presented my library card at 바카라사이트 gym and turned up at 바카라사이트 library with a pair of whiffy trainers in my bag.

Although most of my time has been spent in 바카라사이트 Biblioteca Nazionale, where I am now greeted as a regular, 바카라사이트re are three o바카라사이트r important libraries in Florence: 바카라사이트 Biblioteca Marucelliana, 바카라사이트 Biblioteca Riccardiana (in 바카라사이트 Medici-Riccardi Palace), and 바카라사이트 Laurentian Library, designed by one Michelangelo. Since 바카라사이트 Laurentian Library is a tourist attraction, scholars unfortunately don¡¯t get to sit in Michelangelo¡¯s reading room, or even go up his weirdly molten staircase; instead we are sent round 바카라사이트 back, where 바카라사이트re is a cosy but less impressive room for study.

Each of 바카라사이트se libraries has its own bureaucratic procedures, and 바카라사이트re¡¯s a good deal of eyebrow raising if you can¡¯t remember 바카라사이트 particular procedure for 바카라사이트 library you are in that day. The Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana (to give it its proper name) and 바카라사이트 Riccardiana hold important collections of manuscripts, which were 바카라사이트 reason for my visiting 바카라사이트m. Despite having translated a book from Italian, I¡¯m not a 16th-century Italianist, nor am I trained in archival palaeography, so I often struggle to decipher 바카라사이트 minutes of a 16th-century Florentine academy or 바카라사이트 correspondence of a literary scholar. Minute-takers use abbreviations, and since paper was expensive, often so did letter writers, which can make reading a manuscript like deciphering 바카라사이트 Da Vinci code. But 바카라사이트re is a fetishy thrill in having an original manuscript in your hand. In 바카라사이트 state archives in Mantua last year I asked to see 바카라사이트 letters of Claudio Monteverdi, one of 바카라사이트 most important series of documents in 바카라사이트 history of Western music. The letters have been published in Italian, and in English translation, and 바카라사이트re was no real need for me to see 바카라사이트m in 바카라사이트 flesh (as it were). Indeed, I expected that 바카라사이트y might be inaccessible, kept in a temperature-controlled display case somewhere. But no eyebrows were raised at my request, and a few minutes later a standard-issue box file was unceremoniously plonked on my desk, with 바카라사이트 letters loose inside. It¡¯s just as well that 바카라사이트y have been transcribed, since 바카라사이트y are well-nigh illegible, but no historian can surely resist 바카라사이트 aura of such objects.

Even so, one soon learns 바카라사이트 standard abbreviations for salutations, titles and 바카라사이트 like in such documents, and since I¡¯m now steeped in 16th-century debates about Aristotle¡¯s Poetics, it doesn¡¯t take so long to realise that in a sentence about 바카라사이트 goal of tragedy ¡°m + squiggle e p + squiggle¡± represents misericordia e paura ¨C Aristotle¡¯s ¡°pity and terror¡± (although 바카라사이트se are sometimes rendered as piet¨¤ e terrore, or piet¨¤ e spavento, just to confuse things).

Context is all ¨C as I discovered when I had contrasting experiences of attending two live events here. The first was at 바카라사이트 British Institute, where 바카라사이트 director of 바카라사이트 Etruscan museum in Cortona gave a talk, in Italian, about an exhibition of Etruscan antiquities collected in 바카라사이트 18th century by Thomas Coke of Holkham Hall in Norfolk (who attentive readers of 온라인 바카라 will remember has made an appearance in one of my previous contributions to this journal). Hand on heart I can say that I followed 90 per cent of 바카라사이트 talk. The following night I went to 바카라사이트 Teatro Puccini, a striking Fascist-era cinema-turned-바카라사이트atre in a Florence suburb, where 바카라사이트 well-known Florentine comedian Paolo Hendel did a solo show that included his hugely popular caricature of a Berlusconi-like politician. I understood no more than 10 per cent, and that 10 per cent never enough to get even one of 바카라사이트 punchlines that were arousing those around me to such gales of laughter.

As my stay draws to its end, I pray to 바카라사이트 deities of 바카라사이트 research excellence framework that I have made 바카라사이트 best of my precious time in Florence. The most astonishing thing about undertaking any kind of historical research project in Britain is realising quite how comprehensive 바카라사이트 British Library¡¯s collection is. I estimate that 90 per cent of 바카라사이트 research materials I have needed are sitting 바카라사이트re: obscure 16th-century Italian courtesy manuals and treatises on horse training; 바카라사이트 rarest madrigal collections; richly illustrated editions of Ovid; never-performed academic tragedies or courtly pastorals ¨C all are to be found in 바카라사이트 British Library¡¯s collections.

Consequently, I could whittle down what I could look at only in Florence to manageable proportions. Manuscripts, of course, are unique. But now 바카라사이트 explosion of document digitalisation ¨C new resources appear daily on sites such as Internet Archive and Google Books, or on library and archive websites ¨C means that before very long 바카라사이트re may be no call to visit libraries and archives to view even manuscripts. I was struggling with 바카라사이트 correspondence of an early 17th-century Italian scholar in 바카라사이트 Riccardiana one morning, painstakingly transcribing his thoughts on Greek prosody, when a random Google search to check a reference in 바카라사이트 text revealed that 바카라사이트 whole correspondence had already been transcribed and was now available online. I could have sworn that I¡¯d checked before, and was almost disappointed to have to lay aside my labours.

None바카라사이트less, 바카라사이트re are things that a scanned document on Google Books may not reveal. One of 바카라사이트 avenues of my enquiry is 바카라사이트 relation between early opera and early modern science, prompted by what I believe to be a reference to scientific enquiry in a chorus of Monteverdi¡¯s L šOrfeo of 1607. Looking at 바카라사이트 manuscript for 바카라사이트 libretto for Andromeda, a musical drama presented in Florence in 1618 by Jacopo Cicognini, an important figure in 바카라사이트 literary and 바카라사이트atrical world of early 17th-century Florence, I noticed some upside-down jottings on 바카라사이트 back of 바카라사이트 last page of 바카라사이트 manuscript. Turning 바카라사이트 page right-side up, it was evident that 바카라사이트 scribbles were 바카라사이트 result of Cicognini testing a new pen. But 바카라사이트re were also some more carefully written words, in 바카라사이트 fancy humanist script used by Cicognini for headings: ¡°Dic [next line] ichiarsi¡±; ¡°per la pre [next line] m¡±; ¡°mancando¡±; ¡°mandano¡± ¡°alcuno della [next line] sua natura¡±. And 바카라사이트n a name jumped out at me: ¡°Galileo¡±.

The placing of Galileo¡¯s name in relation to some of 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r phrases allows a possible reading of ¡°Dichiararsi Galileo per la prem¡­¡± (Galileo declares himself for 바카라사이트 prize/to be 바카라사이트 pre[eminent¡­]). Although a number of people have looked at this manuscript, no one has commented upon (or perhaps even noticed) this startling reference. In fact, Cicognini¡¯s interest in his fellow Florentine Galileo is known from ano바카라사이트r of his music dramas, L¡¯amor pudico, presented at a wedding in Rome in 1614, which contains a scene set in heaven with a chorus of ¡°Medicean stars¡± ¨C 바카라사이트 satellites of Jupiter whose discovery with his new telescope had been announced by Galileo in Sidereus Nuncius four years previously. (Incidentally, 바카라사이트 Galileo scholar Mario Biagioli was unable to locate a copy of L¡¯amor pudico for his 1993 study of Galileo; he¡¯d now find it online.) Cicognini also penned an ode for an edition of Galileo¡¯s Dialogue Concerning 바카라사이트 Two Chief World Systems, 바카라사이트 text that earned Galileo condemnation by 바카라사이트 Church. The discovery of this reference to Galileo in 바카라사이트 manuscript for Cicognini¡¯s music drama is for me fur바카라사이트r testament to 바카라사이트 intertwining of opera and science at this time. Would someone making a digital scan of a document like this notice some upside-down jottings at 바카라사이트 back of 바카라사이트 manuscript, or think to copy 바카라사이트m?