The Memoirs of Count Carlo Gozzi; Volume the First

THE MEMOIRS OF COUNT CARLO GOZZI VOLUME THE FIRST
PUBLISHERS' NOTE. Five hundred and twenty copies of this book printed for England, and two hundred and sixty for America. Type distributed. Each copy numbered. No. 606

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS With Essays on Italian Impromptu Comedy, Gozzi's Life, The Dramatic Fables, and Pietro Longhi BY THE TRANSLATOR WITH PORTRAIT AND SIX ORIGINAL ETCHINGS By ADOLPHE LALAUZE ALSO ELEVEN SUBJECTS ILLUSTRATING ITALIAN COMEDY BY MAURICE SAND ENGRAVED ON COPPER BY A. MANCEAU, AND COLOURED BY HAND IN TWO VOLUMES VOLUME THE FIRST NEW YORK SCRIBNER & WELFORD 743 & 745 BROADWAY MDCCCXC
The Etchings designed and etched by Ad. Lalauze. The Masks, illustrating the Italian Commedia dell'Arte, by Maurice Sand, engraved by A. Manceau, and coloured by hand.
AFTER the appearance of my work on Benvenuto Cellini, Mr. J. C. Nimmo proposed that I should undertake a translation of Count Carlo Gozzi's Memorie Inutili .
To this gentleman my warmest thanks are due, not only for starting the idea, which I have carried out, but also for the interest he has shown in my work during its progress, and for the assistance he has liberally rendered by the loan of rare books.
I entertained the proposal with some doubt. What I already knew about Carlo Gozzi amounted to little; and it seemed to me improbable that the world would willingly have left his Memoirs in oblivion if they possessed solid qualities.
At the same time, the little that I did know of Gozzi roused my curiosity. The picturesque aspects of Venetian decadence allured my fancy. I foresaw that I should have to handle the attractive subject of Italian impromptu comedy. Finally, it so happens that autobiographies have always exerted a peculiar fascination for my mind. I rate them highly as historical and psychological documents. The smallest fragment of a genuine autobiography seems to me valuable for the student of past epochs.