There are many amazing points on the map of Florence for all interested in the reception of Classical Antiquity. But it is worth also peeking into via Taddea to see the house in which Carlo Lorenzini in 1826 was born. He is known in the history of children’s classics under a different name – Carlo Collodi, the father of Pinocchio:
Nearby, you will see also a sculpture commemorating Pinocchio by Thomas Cecchi unveiled in 2006:
This part of Piazza del Mercato Centrale is a perfect place to sit for a while and to read the book anew, and to admire the skills of its illustrators. For example, the Polish edition (transl. Zofia Jachimecka) was illustrated by the famous artist, called also “the King of children’s illustration in Poland”, Jan Marcin Szancer (1902–1973). [Please excuse me the state of the cover, but it is a testimony to the book’s intense life;-)]
And it is worth reading the Latin translation, by Ugo Enrico Paoli (1884–1963):
As Prof. Wilfried Stroh (see phot. below) remarks, the Latin language seals the status of a Classic, and Pinocchio merits this kind of homage definitely:
Let’s quote a few phrases on Pinocchio’s birth in Paoli’s translation, as chosen by Prof. Stroh in his analysis of the Latin version (Stroh, “De fabulis Latinis…” 2016:273):
Nec mora, acutam securim adripuit [sc. Magister Cerasum – WS], ut dempto cortice lignum dolando poliret. Cum uero primum ictum illaturus eset, bracchio in altum sublato, immobilis suspensusque haesit; audiuerat enim tenuem quandam subtilemque uocem, suppliciter orantem: “Ne me grauius, precor, percusseris!” (ed. 1983:6)
With a Pinocchio-pencil, a must-have from Florence, you can continue your literary journey through the city or you can even visit Pinocchio’s Park in Tuscany. Each Grand (or Petit) Tour has its roots in Our Mythical Childhood…
For more details:
- Pinocchio’s Park: http://www.pinocchio.it/
- Pinocchio – Fondazione Nazionale Carlo Collodi: https://www.facebook.com/PinocchioOfficlaPage/
- Ugo Entrico Paoli, Pinoculus Latinus, Artemis, Zürich–München 1983 (ed. pr. 1962)
- Turismo Letterario Tra Firenze e Collodi, dove nasce Pinocchio: http://www.turismoletterario.com/blog/tra-firenze-e-collodi-dove-nasce-pinocchio/
- Wilfried Stroh, “From Aesop to Asterix Latinus: A Survey of Latin Books for Children”, w: Katarzyna Marciniak, red., Our Mythical Childhood… The Classics and Literature for Children and Young Adults, Brill, Leiden–Boston 2016, pp. 29–34
- Wilfried Stroh, De fabulis Latinis in usum puerorum puellarumque scriptis, “Rheinisches Museum für Philologie” 159, 2016, str. 225–289
- Prof. Wilfried Stroh’s homepage and the source of his portrait: http://stroh.userweb.mwn.de/
Text and all other pictures by Katarzyna Marciniak.
Our Mythical Childhood Blog 