San Francisco e la sua catastrofe [San Francisco and its Catastrophe]. Tipografia Internazionale, 1906.
Title
San Francisco e la sua catastrofe [San Francisco and its Catastrophe]. Tipografia Internazionale, 1906.
Description
After the Italians of New York, those of San Francisco (and Chicago) probably had the most well-developed network of periodical press, book press, theatre, literature of various types, associations and other forms of collective efforts, including unions.
Crespi’s dramatic “you are there” description of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and of the killing fires that followed, would surely be considered one of the great accounts of that horrific event, had the work been written in or translated into English. “The night of the day following [the earthquake], after a forced march of 52 miles, on the hills that flanked the public gardens of the Golden Gate. . . suddenly, [I saw]. . . . the valley below, a valley on fire, an inferno. The eye could not see the extent of it. . . . there were sudden eruptions. . . .” This work also contains 27 photographs of the devastation, entitled “Tra le rovine” (Among the ruins).
Like Pallavicini, Caminita and Cordiferro, Crespi was a political as well as a literary figure. An ardent and unremitting leader of California’s anarchists and socialists, Crespi (b. Milan, 1857 - d. San Francisco, 1948) was involved in a number of political newspapers and journals. He was author of Per la patria (For the country), the book of revelations of Carlo Camillo Di Rudio, an Italian patriot and naturalized American who participated in the failed attempt on Napoleon III and fought in the battle of Little Bighorn, q.v. Crespi also wrote sketches and stories (e.g., Fantasia di Natale (Christmas fantasy) in La Voce del Popolo (Voice of the People), December 25, 1915) and in 1900 gave life to the anarchist review La Protesta Umana (Human Protest) with Enrico Travaglio, and then Giuseppe Ciancabilla (q.v.).
He also composed an anti-fascist tract, Fascismo: masnadieri antichi e moderni in 1943 in San Francisco. Among the other newspapers he founded or oversaw was Era Democratica (Democratic Age). In 1916, he attacked the “reactionary insanity” of Tom Mooney’s prosecution and trial for a bombing during San Francisco Preparedness Day. His pieces were printed in various newspapers throughout Italian America. In particular, in the last phase of his life, he collaborated on a series for the socialist La Parola del Popolo.
Crespi’s dramatic “you are there” description of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and of the killing fires that followed, would surely be considered one of the great accounts of that horrific event, had the work been written in or translated into English. “The night of the day following [the earthquake], after a forced march of 52 miles, on the hills that flanked the public gardens of the Golden Gate. . . suddenly, [I saw]. . . . the valley below, a valley on fire, an inferno. The eye could not see the extent of it. . . . there were sudden eruptions. . . .” This work also contains 27 photographs of the devastation, entitled “Tra le rovine” (Among the ruins).
Like Pallavicini, Caminita and Cordiferro, Crespi was a political as well as a literary figure. An ardent and unremitting leader of California’s anarchists and socialists, Crespi (b. Milan, 1857 - d. San Francisco, 1948) was involved in a number of political newspapers and journals. He was author of Per la patria (For the country), the book of revelations of Carlo Camillo Di Rudio, an Italian patriot and naturalized American who participated in the failed attempt on Napoleon III and fought in the battle of Little Bighorn, q.v. Crespi also wrote sketches and stories (e.g., Fantasia di Natale (Christmas fantasy) in La Voce del Popolo (Voice of the People), December 25, 1915) and in 1900 gave life to the anarchist review La Protesta Umana (Human Protest) with Enrico Travaglio, and then Giuseppe Ciancabilla (q.v.).
He also composed an anti-fascist tract, Fascismo: masnadieri antichi e moderni in 1943 in San Francisco. Among the other newspapers he founded or oversaw was Era Democratica (Democratic Age). In 1916, he attacked the “reactionary insanity” of Tom Mooney’s prosecution and trial for a bombing during San Francisco Preparedness Day. His pieces were printed in various newspapers throughout Italian America. In particular, in the last phase of his life, he collaborated on a series for the socialist La Parola del Popolo.
Creator
Cesare Crespi
Publisher
Tipografia Internazionale
Date
1906
Format
21 x 15cm; 66 p.
Language
Italian
Citation
Cesare Crespi, “San Francisco e la sua catastrofe [San Francisco and its Catastrophe]. Tipografia Internazionale, 1906.,” Italian-Language American Imprints: The Periconi Collection, accessed April 25, 2024, https://italianamericanimprints.omeka.net/items/show/69.
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