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Rare, Original late 1600s Ecumenical Farce, “Il Capitolo dei Frati,” by Sebastiano Chiesa [168200]

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:5,000.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD
Rare, Original late 1600s Ecumenical Farce, “Il Capitolo dei Frati,” by Sebastiano Chiesa [168200]

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Rare, Original late 1600s Ecumenical Farce, “Il Capitolo dei Frati,” by Sebastiano Chiesa
By Amy Baker, Holabird’s Western Americana

Summary

This is a well-preserved important historical work, hand written, apparently in the author’s hand (Sebastiano Chiesa), possibly the first “copy” of his final draft written in the late seventeenth century. The work is an important and controversial composition that has elements of an ecumenical farce, hence all or parts were at one time banned. It was perhaps forbidden to write about the life of a Friar (Monk) and things related. Chiesa appears to have tackled the subject matter of this work mercilessly. The work is very rare. A subsequent copy is held in the Georgetown University's Woodstock Theological Library which has incorporated the hand written changes present in this copy. This copy also includes a chapter apparently not seen before, possibly held back by the author.

Physical Description

Original handwritten Italian manuscript, hardbound. This volume measures 8.5" x 6.25", inside pages measure 8.25" x 6". Labelled on spine "Capitolo De Frati". * Handwritten in Italian throughout in dark brown ink in large, easy to read cursive handwriting.

There are two blank leaves in front of book and eight in the back, in addition to the blank pages inside each cover board. The binding is hand sewn and some pages are loose and beginning to separate from binding. There are 500 handwritten pages (250 leaves). There are 3 partial leaves that have been intentionally trimmed and bound between full sheets, where it appears the editor (perhaps the author) chose to insert additional text. One of these partial sheets is loose from the binding, but numbered and labelled. It appears this manuscript was bound sans a title page, as there is no indication of a page removed.

Content and Findings

The text begins with the first chapter or "Canto Primo". The last two chapters in the volume are Canto Decimo Quninto or Chapter 15 followed by "Canto Ultimo delle Monache" translated, "The Last Song of the Nuns".

Each Canto begins with a paragraph or stanza labelled "Argomento" which translates to "Subject", followed by numbered stanzas through most of the writing, until the 3rd stanza of Chapter 14 or "Canto Decimo Quarto", when the numbering of the stanzas unexpectedly ceases.

This manuscript has been heavily edited throughout. Most edits appear to be made by the author, many that are one word changes, but in at least one case, in the first canto, two full stanzas have been crossed out. There are also additions of several pages of text that appear to be penned by a different hand; the handwriting is smaller and the ink is slightly lighter. This first occurs in "Canto Terzo" or the third chapter, where only the first line of the 36th stanza is written in the original pen, then changes to new handwriting and a different ink through the 82nd or final stanza of chapter 3. This change of pen continues into the fourth chapter, "Canto Quarto Seconda Sessione" until the 22nd stanza, when it again returns to the original handwriting.

Annotation numbers in parenthesis are present throughout certain cantos, but not all. The last 20 pages of the manuscript are clearly numbered Annotations, grouped and labelled by the cantos in which they appear. However, the notes are bound with "Annotazioni del Canto decimo-quarto" first (14), followed by decimo quinto (15), then Canto Primo (1), Secondo (2) and finally, on the last 2 handwritten leaves are 34 numbered annotations that are not labeled with a correlating canto. Of interest here is that throughout the annotations many names appear, most preceded by "P." for "Padre".

While we did not have the means or the time to translate this manuscript, we attempted to translate key pieces of text, which provided some insight into the content of this work. "Capitolo De Frati" translated means Fraternity in Chapter, or Chapter of the Brotherhood or Chapter of the Friars, and is known from other sources as "Il Capitolo Fratesco", described in World Cat as a poem "satirizing the Franciscan order, to which the writer appears to have belonged. Consists of eight cantos, arranged in 8-line stanzas." That description indicates that only half of this manuscript was only known to the cataloger. We think it is important to note that on the last page of the poem, before the Annotations begin, under the last octave of text there is written "Il rimante Soppresso dall'Auto re Si desideva" which we have very roughly translated to "The remainder was suppressed, as the author wanted". This key phrase opens the door to many intriguing possibilities about this manuscript.

In researching the suppression of this work we were able to identify a later copy written as an opera that was auctioned in 2019 by Gonneli, an Italian Auction house that specializes in antiquarian literature. The description by these experts is worth noting as it indicates that this Jesuit work by Sebastiano Chiesa was considered at one time by the Catholic Church to be a "Forbidden Book". The item description, translated into English, states: "The daily life of friars becomes a forbidden book; Chapter of the Friars Followed by the Conclave Drama for Music by Sebasitano Chiesa....At the foot of the title page we read: “Written and applied by F. Gianfrancesco from Milan to the Libreria di Pro in the year 1772 / to be kept withdrawn in the cabinet of prohibited books...This is the satirical poem in fourteen cantos in ottava rima, followed by the clefs of the cantos ... The work circulated only in manuscript form between the end of the 17th and 18th centuries. The author was a Jesuit Sebastiano Chiesa (16th century), also known under the pseudonym of Tisabesano Sechia, who recounted the daily life of a community of friars with lively and sometimes Boccaccio anecdotes. II OPERA: The text of the libretto was compiled by Abbot Gaetano Sertor and cost the author imprisonment in the papal prisons."

Georgetown University's Woodstock Theological Library holds another copy, written in opera format, which is referenced under "Poems by Father Sechia" on their website (https://library.georgetown.edu/woodstock/blog/poems-father-sechia) and states, "There were other lesser known Jesuit poets like Sebastiano Chiesa (d. 1678), who was born in Reggio di Modena, Italy. Woodstock Theological Library has unique manuscript volumes of poetry written by Chiesa entitled Capitolo de frati, poema eroico comico o sia prurito geniale autumnale del pa[d]re Sechia Accedemic lepido Reggiano. (A chapter concerning the friars, a heroic comical poem, or, its brilliant autumnal yearning by the charming father Sechia, Academic [of] Reggio Emilia). As the title suggests, these volumes contain satirical poems which are meant to poke fun at Franciscan friars. Father Sechia was the nom de plume of Chiesa, who might have wanted to remain the unidentified prankster! In other known copies of this poem he also uses a fuller form of this name: Tisabesano Sechia."

The copy held by Woodstock Theological Library has been digitally imaged in completion and is available to view online. There is little doubt, upon examining the images and comparing them to this copy, that both are written by the same hand. Additionally, it appears that the edits made to this copy are present in the copy held by Georgetown, leading us to the conclusion that this copy PRECEDES the copy in the Woodstock Theological Library.

What makes this copy even more rare is the inclusion of the last chapter, "Canto Ultimo delle Monache", or "Last Song of the Nuns", which has not appeared or been mentioned in any of our research and is not referenced at all by Georgetown.

We believe this manuscript is the ORIGINAL copy of the complete handwritten poem, penned by author. We have not been able to definitively pinpoint the writer's name in this manuscript, nor does this manuscript include a fancy cover page or even a title page, which is very unusual for a bound work from this time. These are additional factors that indicates to us that this is, in fact, the writer's original, which he edited and noted extensively before creating additional copies for public release, some of which were written as an opera or musical performance, or in satirical form, perhaps as a method of hiding the truth in plain sight by disguising the content as entertainment rather than insights into the inner workings of the controversial Jesuit Brotherhood. The subject matter contained herein definitely warrants in depth study by an expert on the topic.

Provenance

We can trace the Provenance of this manuscript back to the turn of the previous century through the family of Steven Saylor, who inherited the book from his mother, Jane Saylor (b. 1920), in turn inherited from his maternal grandmother, Lucinda Heckaman, of Canton, Ohio. The Saylor Family has never before offered this manuscript for public sale.

Included with this hardbound, original manuscript is an envelope postmarked May 7, 1996 containing a handwritten letter on UC Berkeley letterhead dated May 3, 1996 to the Saylor family from R. Sefanini, Department of Italian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. The letter reads:
"....The author of Il Capitolo dei Frati, I found, is Sebastiano Chiesa, a Gesuite (Jesuit) from Reggio Emilia who was active in the second half of the XVII century. The manuscript in your possession might have been written by the author himself with the possible help of a copyist (some changes or pentimenti are clearly to be ascribed to the pen of the poet)....."
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