Giuseppe Volpe - Napoli 1860 - Lettera Autografa di G. Volpe: I "Libri Proibiti" di Gioberti e la fine della Censura - 1860

Autograph manuscript from the Risorgimento era of great historical, cultural, and postal interest[cite: 1, 4].

TECHNICAL DATA:
- Type: Folded autograph letter (antique folded-letter envelope)[cite: 1, 4]
- Pages: 1 densely written page + address/postmarks on the reverse[cite: 1, 4]
- Open size: about 27 x 38 cm
- Folded size: 7.5 x 13.5 cm
- Preservation: Good, ink perfectly legible, original era folds and intact wax lacquer seal

HISTORICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONTENT:
Letter dated December 12, 1860, written in the months immediately following the Plebiscite of the annexation of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies to the newborn Kingdom of Italy.

The sender Giuseppe Volpe ("Peppino") writes to the recipient Luigi Filippo Buonopane in Naples (Salita S. Antonio a Tarsia N° 16)[cite: 1, 2, 4]. The text records a noteworthy cultural news: at the famous Aubry Bookshop on Via Toledo No. 20 in Naples, the posthumous works of the philosopher and patriot Vincenzo Gioberti (Riforma, Rivelazione, Protologia) are sold at a "vile price" (deeply discounted).

These volumes had been placed by the Ecclesiastical Institution on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Books Prohibited), and their sale at a low price marks the end of Bourbon and papal censorship in Naples.

The local academic environment and the well-known Neapolitan politician and jurist Raffaele Conforti are also mentioned.

POSTAL HISTORY:
On the back of the letter are two clearly defined red-ink stamps:
1. Oval postmark dated 12 DEC. 1860
2. Circular arrival stamp in Naples dated 14 DEC