In March, 1997, Joseph Colagiovanni was appointed Honorary Vice Consul for the Government of Italy in St. Louis.  The Vice Consul’s office is at One Metropolitan Square, Suite 3800, in downtown St. Louis and is staffed by an administrative assistant fluent in English and Italian.  The office is open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (phone:  259-2008 and fax: 259-2155).  In addition, Colagiovanni spends one Saturday each month at the Italia-America Bocce Club on the Hill.

In addition to his duties as Honorary Vice Consul, Mr. Colagiovanni is a Partner in Bryan Cave LLP, a leading national and international law firm.  Mr. Colagiovanni is a member of the International, and Real Estate Development, Construction and Project Finance practice groups and leader of the Firm’s Construction Law Section.  Mr. Colagiovanni is an Adjunct Professor at the Washington 
 

   Vederdy started her journey into these rare books in the Middle Ages. Her presentation was demonstrated with slides enabling the audience to get a clear view of the rare books without touching them. 

   The 15th century textbook by Johannes de Ketham for current students and practitioners of the day was printed in Venice in 1491. It had high quality woodcuts and described rules of hygiene and medical treatment along with advice on how to choose a good physcian. A book by Niccolo Leoniceno printed in 1494 was one of the earliest texts on syphilis. Petrus Lacepiera’s book printed in Venice in 1496 was primarily an ethical work on morals, which he emphasized, “the eye is the mirror of the soul”. It was the second earliest book on human vision. Albrecht Durer’s book held landmark work on the proportions of the human body and was translated into Italian. Galileo Galilei’s famous book on astronomy printed in 1641 discussed the two contradictory systems of Ptolemy and Copernicus. A close-up slide of a book pointed out bookworm holes in the spine, which is common in rare books. It seemed the worms liked the glue, which was made of bones. 

   One of the earliest, detailed accounts for methods of grinding and polishing lenses could be found in Carlo Antonio Manzini’s book printed in Bologna 1660. It used the newest copper  engraving techniques. A Treatise of Painting - the theory of motion by Leonardo di Vinci - was in a beautiful17th century, gold-tooled binding. Francesco Redi’s book printed in 1678 was about eyeglasses and Antonio Molinetti’s book printed in Venice in 1675 was a survey on the anatomy and pathology of the human body. 
The engraving in Francesco Algarotti’s 1737 book printed in Naples was so exquisite it looked like a painting and the raised bands and gold-tooled leather binding of Giuseppe Natalis Pallucci’s book on cataract surgery made it unique for its timeframe.

   At the age of 79, Giovanni Barrista Morgigni wrote a classic pathology book in Latin and it was later translated into English. The book demonstrated the rare use of bi-color printing. On display also was the original license to Giacomo Bonagrazia to compound and dispense quercetano pills in Treviso in 1737. Christophoro Sarti’s work in marbled paper binding with vellum spine explored questions about blindness.  The last subject was Antonio Scarpa’s work on ophc    with Scarpa’s own drawings in 19th century style, leather binding.  The author was considered the father of Italian ophthalmology. by Marianne Peri Sack

   Summer is coming fast and with it the full bloom of the trees, the flowers and, oh yes, the St. Louis humidity.  We had a delightful speaker at this past month’s meeting, Lilla Vekerdy.  Those of you in attendance got to see a marvelous collection of  books.  The programs in the coming months look interesting and in some cases a bit on the lighter side. 

   At the June meeting, Honorary Vice Consul, Joe Colagiovanni, Esq. will address the Club and report on matters of interest relative to the Italian government.  Joe’s talks have always been informative while providing insight into interesting topics.  Additionally, we will be presenting the Italian Heritage Award for 2003 to Aldo Della Croce, long-time member and community leader.

  Have you noticed how many interesting people we have in our Club?  We have individuals from all walks of life.  Some retired, some working, some that travel extensively, others that stay closer to home to pursue their interests and passions.  I always learn from those of you I have the opportunity to speak with at our meetings.  Speaking of interesting, our Treasurer, Dan Viele has recently returned from Kiev where he presented a paper on the topic “Innovation in Higher Education”.  What a marvelous and exciting experience!  Dan is Chair of the Business Department at Webster University and has been actively involved in making “online classes” a reality on a global basis. 

   I look forward to seeing you at the next meeting on June 18th.  Please CALL to make your reservation. 

Ciao, Jim 
jtognoni@earthlink.net

Barbara Klein

July 16 - “Italian Cookies and Biscotti”, presenter Joann Arpiani 

August 20 - "The Leaning Tower of Pisa", presented by retired architect-contractor Dominic Alessi

The Italian Club meets the third Wednesday of each month for dinner at 
da Baldo’s Restaurant
Cocktails—6:30p.m.
Dinner-      7:00p.m.
 

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Tosca by Puccini
various dates during May 24 - June 29, 2003 
www.opera-stl.org

   Il capolavoro di Francesco Petrarca (Arezzo 1304 - Arquà 1374) è il Canzoniere, la raccolta di componimenti lirici in lingua volgare che il poeta compose durante tutta la sua vita. In esso Petrarca diede l'espressione più limpida e raffinata dell'amore e della capacità di elevazione dell'uomo e delle sue inquietudini e ambiguità, sia spirituali che psicologiche, precorrendo le forme e il linguaggio della lirica moderna. Elemento ispiratore e tema fondamentale dell'opera è l'amore per Laura, incontrata ad Avignone il giorno 6 aprile 1327. In questo sonetto Petrarca benedice il momento in cui ha incontrato Laura.

   Sonetto LXI
di Francesco Petrarca

 Benedetto sia 'l giorno e 'l mese e l'anno
e la stagione e 'l tempo e l'ora e 'l punto
e 'l bel paese e 'l loco ov'io fui giunto
da' duo begli occhi che legato m'ànno;

 e benedetto il primo dolce affanno
ch' i' ebbi ad esser con Amor congiunto,
e l'arco e le saette ond' i' fui punto,
e le piaghe ch 'nfin al cor mi vanno.

 Benedette le voci tante ch'io
chiamando il nome de mia Donna ò sparte,
e i sospiri e le lagrime e 'l desio;

 e benedette sian tutte le carte
ov' io fama l'acquisto, e 'l pensier mio,
ch' è sol di lei, sì ch' altra non v'à parte.

IL SEDICESIMO SECOLO LIVORNO
a cura di  Carol Mondia 

   Per piu’ di due cento anni Livorno era un porto di mare dove la vita ebrea ebbe grande sviluppo.  In quell’epoca era considerato uno dei grandissimi centri ebraici in tutto il mondo.

   Nel 1593 Ferdinando I invito’ gente del’est ed ovest, spagnoli, portoghesi, greci, germanici, turchi, armeni, mori e persiani ed altri per stabilire un rapporto commerciale.  Finnora Livorno ed il suo porto erano posti tranquilli senza movimento.  Aveva la distinzione di essere un porto libero.

   La notizia di questa opportunita’ si diffondo’ in tutto Europa, specialmente in Spagna e Portogallo ove gli ebrei erano sottomessi ad una vita misera.  Tanti erano cacciati, e, tanti fugirono l’oppressione che esisteva.  Vennero e stabilirono a Livorno.  Facevano la maggior parte della popolazione a quel tempo.

   Questa esplosione della popolazione ebraica porto’ una vita commerciale.  Prendevano l’occasione di fare legami ovunque.  Avevano torchi da stampa, scuole ed academie teologici.  La lingua ufficiale erano due:  portoghese e castiliano.  Ladino era il vernaculo.  Piu’ tarde entro’ il Bagitto.  Questo era una combinazione d’italiano, spagnolo ed ebreo.

   Nel 1602 venne construito una delle sinagoghe piu’ colossale di quell’epoca e forse anche di oggigiorno.  Aveva file di balcony arcati, lamperdri brillanti, soffitti decorative, vetrate colorate eccezionali.  Avavano magnificamente ingrandito il luogo nel 1789 quando la popolazione superava 5000 abitanti.  Oggi rimane solo fotografie di questo posto.  Fu distrutto durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale dai bombardamenti americani.  Veniva costruito u’altra su posto della prima.

   Oggi esiste un communita’ ben attiva di oltre 1000 persone.  Conservano la loro storia in diverse musei, scuole, ecc. (la piu’ nota sinagoga in Piazza Benamozegh, il Museo Ebraico ed I cimiteri).

   Non dimentichiamo l’arte culinaria.  I dolci di Isaach Fernanadez si mangiano ancora oggi.  Fernandez ricevette l’autorizzazione del Ducato di Toscana di mettere il stemma Medici sulla porta, tanto che erano piaciuti dei nobili.  Questa confezione consisteva  di mandorle e zucchero.  Poi il café’ venne introdotto dai loro mercanti.  Rimanenti dalla loro cucina che si mangia oggi sono:  bocche di dama, roschette, tortini vegetali e scodelline.

   La prossima volt ache visitate Italia e volete passare a Livorno possono avere informazioni da:  Provincia di Livorno/Piazza del Municipio 4/57100 Livorno, It.livorno   www.provincia.it  Buona Passegiata! 

Jewish Livorno by Ruth Ellen Gruber– Italy, Italy   Year XVIII, No. 3, 2000