Margaret Fuller and Mazzini again: an almost unedited letter

Abstract

The essay examines two documents: the first is in part unedited, while, although the second was published in 1879, it has only recently been rediscovered by an American scholar. Both documents are of particular interest for what they tell us about the relationship between Margaret Fuller and Giuseppe Mazzini. In both documents the two protagonists are brought together by the well-known English wood engraver and journalist William Linton, who later in life emigrated to the United States. The first document consists of a letter that Fuller sent to Linton, accompanied by verses that were to be published in a journal edited by Linton. The letter is presented in its full and original form for the first time, and it shows that Fuller's verses were written as a tribute to Mazzini's patriotism. The second document is the transcription of a text that Linton published in 1879, in which long after their deaths Fuller and Mazzini engage in an imagined conversation in which both express their lifelong commitment. For Mazzini, the imagined dialogue provides an opportunity to reaffirm his conviction that religious and political faith are inseperable.