I know not if there has been any further notice of this MS., which is interesting as a monument of the respect and attention our great poet received from the most distinguished literary men of Italy at the time of his visit, and I should be glad if any of your correspondents can indicate its existence, and the place where it is now preserved. When it was on sale, I had permission to copy the title and a few of the sonnets, which were such as we could not imagine would have given pleasure to the chaste mind of Milton; each of them containing, as the title indicates, an équivoque, which would bear an obscene sense, yet very ingeniously wrapped up. The first sonnet opens thus:—
"Queste Sonnetti, o Tina, ch' i' hó composto,
Me gl' há dettati una Musa buffona,
Cantando d' improviso, alla Carlona,
Sul suono, spinto dal oalor del Mosto."
The second may serve to show the nature of the équivoque:—
"Tina, I' so legger bene, e rilevato
La Storia di Liombrune, e Josafatte,
Se ben, per esser noto in queste fratte
Sotto il Maestro mai non sono stato.