Poesie Varie [Diverse Poems]. New York: J.H.Turney [ptr], 1830.
Title
Poesie Varie [Diverse Poems]. New York: J.H.Turney [ptr], 1830.
Description
"Pubblicate dall' Autore". This work, “published by the author,” of course long before the Great Migration, was dedicated to Domenico Rossetti di Scander, a wealthy patrician from Trieste mentioned with affection in the Memorie di Lorenzo Da Ponte (New York, 1829–30), in appreciation for his putting up the always-impecunious Da Ponte (b. The Veneto, 1749; d. New York, 1838) as a guest during the latter’s visit to Trieste.
With his libretti for Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro and Così fan tutte written in an ever-receding past, indeed, in another lifetime for the long-lived Da Ponte, in the U.S. he often self-published his own Italian poetry and translations of English poetry into Italian, mostly for his private Italian students.
Here, before there were specialized Italian printers, an American one, J.H. Turney, was the “Stampatore” (printer). Examples of Da Ponte’s translation in the Poesie varie are Byron’s Prophecy of Dante, a free translation from the French of LeSage’s Gil Blas, and a poem of his own. (His more famous Memorie, q.v., was published by another "American" printer.
This “second edition” follows the first appearance of the Byron and LeSage translations, which were published in 1821, in New York, as well as at the end of the third volume (1830) of the second edition of Memorie.
The manner in which the present copy is bound (in original paper boards) is probably the way that most of his students purchased and maintained their copies. This collection of poetry was gathered mostly as teaching material along with grammars, readers and dictionaries – used primarily in the Northeast for Americans eager to learn this fashionable language. Da Ponte wrote and published simple dramas for his private students (usually children of New York's leading families) and for those at Columbia College, where he became its first professor of Italian in 1825.
Da Ponte and his brother Carlo maintained a bookstore in New York as well. They shipped such publications throughout the United States wherever Italian was taught. Italian exiles from Austrian rule of Italy in mid-century taught Italian to Americans eager to learn the language.
With his libretti for Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro and Così fan tutte written in an ever-receding past, indeed, in another lifetime for the long-lived Da Ponte, in the U.S. he often self-published his own Italian poetry and translations of English poetry into Italian, mostly for his private Italian students.
Here, before there were specialized Italian printers, an American one, J.H. Turney, was the “Stampatore” (printer). Examples of Da Ponte’s translation in the Poesie varie are Byron’s Prophecy of Dante, a free translation from the French of LeSage’s Gil Blas, and a poem of his own. (His more famous Memorie, q.v., was published by another "American" printer.
This “second edition” follows the first appearance of the Byron and LeSage translations, which were published in 1821, in New York, as well as at the end of the third volume (1830) of the second edition of Memorie.
The manner in which the present copy is bound (in original paper boards) is probably the way that most of his students purchased and maintained their copies. This collection of poetry was gathered mostly as teaching material along with grammars, readers and dictionaries – used primarily in the Northeast for Americans eager to learn this fashionable language. Da Ponte wrote and published simple dramas for his private students (usually children of New York's leading families) and for those at Columbia College, where he became its first professor of Italian in 1825.
Da Ponte and his brother Carlo maintained a bookstore in New York as well. They shipped such publications throughout the United States wherever Italian was taught. Italian exiles from Austrian rule of Italy in mid-century taught Italian to Americans eager to learn the language.
Creator
Lorenzo Da Ponte
Publisher
J.H. Turney [ptr]
Date
1830
Format
12.5 x 7cm; 142 p.
Language
Italian
Citation
Lorenzo Da Ponte, “Poesie Varie [Diverse Poems]. New York: J.H.Turney [ptr], 1830.,” Italian-Language American Imprints: The Periconi Collection, accessed May 3, 2024, https://italianamericanimprints.omeka.net/items/show/139.
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