RENUCCI (Francesco Ottaviano). Storia di Corsica.... Lot 47

RENUCCI (Francesco Ottaviano). Storia di Corsica. Bastia, dalla tipografia Fabiani. 1833-1834. 2 volumes in-8, 400-xxx-(2 of which the last is blank) + 458-(2 of which the last is blank) pp. half red basane with corners, smooth spines decorated with gilt fillets and motifs, double gilt fillet on the leather edges, marbled edges, spine and corners a little rubbed (period binding). FIRST EDITION. 4 copper-engraved plates hors texte. Essentially devoted to the period from 1729 to 1830, this history manages to respect the rules of honest objectivity, all the more commendable given the author's strong republican and francophile convictions. The book was a great success with the Corsican public. FOR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS THE LEADER OF CORSICAN INTELLIGENTSIA, WRITER AND HISTORIAN FRANCESCO OTTAVIANO RENUCCI (1767-1842) studied in Milan, where he frequented a group of intellectuals including the Marquis of Beccaria and Count Verri, and where he embraced the ideas of the Enlightenment, becoming equally enthusiastic about the French Revolution. At Saliceti's request, he was enlisted in 1796 as secretary to General Gentili in the French expedition charged with taking over the reins of power in Corsica after the departure of the English, and published a pamphlet in favor of Corsica's return to France. He then returned permanently to his native island, where he played a leading cultural role as founder of the Bastia library (1800), professor of history and eloquence (1806), founding member and then secretary of the Société d'instruction publique du département du Golo, vice-secretary of the Société centrale d'instruction publique du département de la Corse (1820) and principal of the Bastia college until 1826. Favoring a balance between the French and Italian languages in Corsica, he published a collection of Novelle storiche in 1827, in which, as a moralist, he emphasized common sense over the principles of vendetta. However, his dedication of the work to Corsican youth was not well received by his superiors, forcing him to resign from the Collège de Bastia. Provenance : Marquis Giovanni-Andrea Baciocchi (vignette armoriée ex-libris). - Xavier Versini (double ex-libris: his signature on p. 11 and his initials on p. 26).