Giuseppe Bertoldi MEMOIRS OF THE SECRET SOCIETIES OF THE SOUTH OF ITALY PARTICULARLY THE CARBONARI 1821 Illustrated Fold-Out Plates
Frontispiece Uniforms Revolutionary Italian Nationalism Naples

Title: Memoirs of the Secret Societies of the South of Italy, Particularly the Carbonari
Author: Giuseppe Bertoldi
Publisher: John Murray
City: London
Year: 1821
Printing Information: First Edition
Binding Style: Hardcover
Pagination: 235 pages
Width: 5.75" Height: 9.25"
Book Details: This antique volume is bound in textured green cloth with bright stamped gilt lettering to the spine. A scarce fist English edition, this work contains a number of fascinating illustrations offering representations of royal personages and of the societies in question. The frontispiece offers a portrait of Ferdinand I, King of the Two Siclies, the plate opposite page 60 one of Don Francis, hereditary prince of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies & Prince of Calabria. Seven intact fold-out plates are attached at the rear of the volume, including a view of a meeting of the Carbonari (with key explaining personnel), six folding facsimiles of documents, two plates of uniforms.

The Carbonari (Italian for "charcoal makers") was an informal network of secret revolutionary societies active in Italy from about 1800 to 1831. The Italian Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in France, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Brazil and Uruguay. Although their goals often had a patriotic and liberal basis, they lacked a clear immediate political agenda. They were a focus for those unhappy with the repressive political situation in Italy following 1815, especially in the south of the Italian Peninsula. Members of the Carbonari, and those influenced by them, took part in important events in the process of Italian unification (called the Risorgimento), especially the failed Revolution of 1820, and in the further development of Italian nationalism. The chief purpose was to defeat tyranny and to establish constitutional government. In the north of Italy other groups, such as the Adelfia and the Filadelfia, were associate organizations

From the author’s preface: “The history of the Carbonari of Naples forms the principal subject of the present work. Their existence has been known for many years; but it was the revolution of July, 1820, which brought them into full daylight. Victorious and exclusive during the first months of that revolution, they imagined that they had no cause for further concealment. They boasted of their success; they revealed their secret proceedings; they promulgated decrees, and posted up proclamations. The press multiplied their Catechisms, the Transactions of their Societies, and the results of their deliberations. Their Patents and their Symbols were sold publicly.â€
Condition / Notes: This antique title shows well, with some typical indications of age and wear, including mild rubbing to the covers and shelfwear. The binding is cracked at the title page and cracking between pages 232 (misprinted 230) and 233. An antique pictorial bookplate of Eugene J. Smith appears on the front pastedown. A previous owner's embossed stamp can be seen in the upper right corner of the front flyleaf. The pages display scattered foxing, heavier at the ends of the book.

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