Giuseppe Mazzini | Collection of ten letters signed, to Italian patriots, 1859-63

Giuseppe Mazzini

Important collection of 10 letters signed, to patriots in Italy, including Benedetto Cairoli, Rosario Bagnasco, Ippolito Giderzolli and Federico Ballazzi

about Garibaldi, the Monarchy and the need to remove the Papacy, in which Mazzini urges the patriots to free Rome and Venice, advising against allowing Garibaldi's present activities to dictate where to promote military action, since Garibaldi will invariably head to the centre of the fighting wherever it takes place: he also explains some of his most important political philosophies; namely that, as the emancipation of Rome must be the work of the entire nation, a Republic must replace the Monarchy, in which Italians have the duty to replace the hypocrisy of the Papacy with Liberty, Conscience and Truth

27 pp, mostly 4to, 2 Aug 1859 to 6 May 1863 (where dated)

[with:] later transcripts

This is an important collection of unpublished letters, encapsulating some of Mazzini's most important philosophies, his hatred of the Monarchy and the Papacy, and his attitude to Garibaldi. Most of the political letters appear to date from around 1860-1862: for example, the letter to Libertini of 3 April 1862 (in Opere, ed. L. Salvatorelli, I, 806). He emphasizes the need for patriots to keep to a consistent plan, rather than be directed solely by the campaigns of Garibaldi. The anti-Monarchist attitude shown in this collection is typical of Mazzini but by the 1850's Mazzini had to contend with Cavour's lead to unite Italy under the crown of Piedmont. He battled unsuccessfully against the monarchist movement, declaring that the emancipation of Italy was a national duty. To achieve unity, the Nation had to be in charge of its own forces and means. Toynbee rated Mazzini as "The true teacher of our age", and Michael Biddiss notes that his views eventually lead to far greater successes than did those of Marx. Similarly modern was his anti-clericalism, and especially his grievances against the Papacy for its complicity in the evils perpetrated in Italy. In this collection he urges his brothers that the duty of all Italians was to plant the Banner of Liberty of Conscience and Thought over the ruins of the Papal power, and to declare to the Pope "resign and disappear, you are no more than a usurper: in us resides Life and Religion".

PROVENANCE:

Sotheby's, London, 26 April 1990, lot 417