MLR, 96.3, 200 I 85 I despite andinopposition tothe authoritarian turn imposed inthose years onFrance byNapoleon, whonotoriously ousted Fauriel andhisfriends, known asthe Ideologues, andlater onbythe Restauration. Inhercommentary, Botta hassingled outallthose passages theexpert aswellas thelayreader wouldexpect toseeclarified and/or discussed, managing toshed considerable light on theproblems they raise.She has identified mostofthe documents, letters, books andeven personal copies ofprinted works either cited or simply hinted at in thetext.Thanksto herfirst-hand acquaintance withthe documentation heldinMilanese andParisian libraries shehasalsosucceeded in reconstructing thecontents ofmost ofFauriel's lost letters, re-establishing thereby a kindofvirtual balancebetween thedisproportioned members ofthesurviving correspondence. Thenotes areexhaustive without being prolix, andcontain numerous references toimportant unpublished material brought tolight during research. Bottahad already provided indisputable evidence for Fauriel's involvement inthedrafting of Manzoni's Lettre aM. C.*** (inAnnali manzoniani, n.s.2 ( I 994),3-33).Inthe notes to this Carteggio onecannowreadabout theidentification ofa copy ofDante'sComedy with autograph marginalia byVittorio Alfieri (p.43),thediscovery ofa MS copy of Manzoni's tragedy Adelchi, unknown eventothemost recent editor oftheplay, containing autograph corrections bytheauthor (p.355,andplateI I showing a reproduction ofthe title page), the scrutiny ofFauriel's notebooks revealing methods andachievements ofa great expert onDanteandthe medieval world (seethe Index, under 'Fauriel, Charles-Claude'), andmany other delightful finds. SinceBottais continuing her investigations onthese topics, scholars arenowconfidently expecting from her further major contributions tothe knowledge ofnineteenth-century Italian literature andFranco-Italian relations. UNIVERSITY OFSTANDREWS CARLO CARUSO II Aovecento inglese e italiano. Saggi critici e comparativi. EzraPound, T. S. Eliot, Eugenio Montale, Giuseppe Ungaretti, Mario Luti, Sergio Solmi, F. R.Leavis, Bertrand Russell, Rabindranath Wagore, Stephen Spender ePhzlip Larkin. BYG. SINGH andGABRIELLE BARFOOT. (ZetaUniversita, I)Udine: Campanotto. I998.503pp.60,ooo lire. Thisisan unusual volume. It iscomposed ofchapters written intwolanguages (eighteen inItalian, seventeen inEnglish) bytwo authors, G.Singh, a senior scholar ofAnglo-Italian literary relations, andGabrielle Barfoot, a teacher ofEnglish atthe University ofTrieste. Ascanbeexpected, the chapters (most ofthem reprinted from journals andcollections) areofvarying quality, butthey alsocontain much useful material, anditwould bea pity ifthis massive effiort were topassunnoticed. Thechapters arearranged infour parts. PartI iS mostly devoted tothemuchstudied Dante-Eliot-Pound triangulation, withsurveys by Barfoot ofDante's presence in Poundand in Eliot'scriticism. Part2 openswithchapters on 'Wordsworth today' (Barfoot) and'Don ffuan andtheCantos' (Singh), then moves to modern Italy: Montale's reading ofHardy andofEnglish poetry ingeneral, 'Ossi di seppia andtheLigurian poets', 'Ungaretti andPound'(a subject treated atmuch greater length inErnesto Livorni's Avanguardia e tradizione (Florence: Le Lettere, I998)). Part3 hasreadings bySingh ontime inEliot, tradition inLuzi,Leavis(to whom the volume isdedicated, andwhose relation with Eliot istraced with acumen inPart2), 'Alfredo Gargiulo e lapoesiadelNovecento', and'Sergio Solmi critico'. Part4 oXers discussions ofEliotandBertrand Russell (a meeting ofopposites), Reviews 852 Montaleand modernism, Tagore,Larkin, Spender, and Poundand Lowellas translators ofLeopardi. Itisa bitofa mixed bag,butSingh isusually convincing andwell-documented in hispithy reconstructions ofintellectual history, though onecoulddisagree with some ofhis judgments andhisnear-idolatry ofPound andEliot. Oneistempted to conclude that this unwieldy volume isbasedonthe principle enunciated inPound's Canto8: 'And they want toknow what wetalked about? . . . books, arms, tAndof menofunusual genius,| Bothofancient times andourown,inshort theusual subjects| Ofconversation between intelligent men.'Yetthesubjects are,infact, interesting, andclearly Singh haspicked upmuch information andinsight inhis lifelong acquaintance with the likes ofMontale, Leavis andPound. IlAovecento inglese eitaliano isa well-deserved monument toanunorthodox Italianist. UNIVERSITY OFGENOA MASSIMO BACIGALUPO Lettere londinesi (I968-I995). ByCARLO DIONISOTTI. Ed.byGIUSEPPE ANCESCHI. Florence: Olschki. 2000.III PP. 2s,0001ire. Thevolume reproduces fifty-one letters written byDionisotti toAnceschi between I968andI995.About a third ofthebookistaken upwith a short introduction by the editor, anda substantial essay which details the evolution ofDionisotti's life asa scholar andpublic figure, andhisimpact onItalian culture. The trigger forthiscorrespondence wasAnceschi's invitation toDionisotti to speak ata conference onBoiardo tobeheld between Scandiano andReggio Emilia inApril I969.Inhisreply accepting the invitation, Dionisotti describes himself asa 'regionalista e municipalista convinto', inkeeping with hisfamiliar emphasis onthe strength ofthepluricentric tradition inItalian culture. He alsolinks theareato Antonio Panizzi, the founder ofthe British Museum library whohailed from Reggio intheI820S, a figure with whom Dionisotti felt a strong sense ofidentification, and atwhose centenary heinfact gavethe keynote speech atReggio inI979. Thefirst letters aremore specifically focused onthebusiness athand(Boiardo andPanizzi). Asthecorrespondents become friends (the 'lei'ofII November I968 turns intoa 'tu' in OctoberI970),thetopics widen, to thedailyconcerns of Dionisotti...