Lotti - Sonn da Lezr alla Banzola - 1740

SETTECENTO BOLOGNESE BETWEEN WOMEN, THEATRE, PETTY JOKES AND SATIRE
La Banzola is a female character from Bologna’s popular tradition, protagonist of a dialect work entitled La chiaqlira dla Banzola («The Banzola’s Chatters»). It is a translation-r iduction of Cunto de li cunti by Giambattista Basile, made in the eighteenth century.
Thus in the phrase «Innocent remedies for the sleepiness and melancholy of the Banzola», the Banzola is the woman to whom the tales are addressed: playful “remedies,” i.e. stories to read to dispel boredom and melancholy.
An fascinating journey into 18th‑century Bologna’s popular life, told in the liveliness of its original dialect. Six satirical dialogues render a world of vain singers, servants, feasts, human weaknesses and domestic conversations, offering an ironic and surprisingly modern portrait of city society. Published in 1740, this sixth edition presents an addition by the author previously not printed. Particularly interesting is the figurative frontispiece and the preservation of the original rustic eighteenth‑century binding.

ABSTRACT
Rare and interesting sixth enlarged edition of one of the most representative works of Bologna’s dialect literature from the early eighteenth century. Published in Modena by Bartolomeo Soliani in 1740, the work gathers six satirical dialogues in verse by Lotto Lotti, conceived as amusement for the winter gatherings of Bologna’s women. Through everyday situations, social caricatures and sharp observations, the author offers a vivid fresco of city life, with particular attention to the feminine world, to music and to theatre. The edition is distinguished by the declared addition of authorial material previously unpublished and by the figurative frontispiece.

WHY TO BUY
A work that unites popular literature, manners history, theatre and dialect linguistics. Its interest far exceeds the regional dimension: Lotto Lotti documents an urban society through its living language, preserving expressions, behaviors and customs difficult to trace in official literary works. The sixth edition of 1740 is of particular interest for its expanded content and for its relatively limited bibliographic circulation. The frontispiece, an element sometimes missing in surviving copies, constitutes a further merit. The rustic contemporary binding, substantially preserved, strengthens the historical authenticity of the whole.

MARKET VALUE
The work belongs to a specialized collecting sector, including ancient dialect literature, eighteenth‑century satire and the history of Emilian culture. Documented library offers for the 1740 edition range approximately between €350 and €450.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Contemporary rustic binding in blind carton, with visible nerves. Allegorical figurative frontispiece in woodcut; decorative initial letters in woodcut. Leaves with some browning and physiological foxing. Binding shows natural signs of time. Overall, a copy in more than good condition, preserving the charm of its eighteenth‑century editorial attire. This listing includes AI Visuals. Please refer to the original photographs to verify the object’s actual condition. Images are part of the description. Pp. (2); 12; 132.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Lotto Lotti.
Rimedi per la sonn da lezr alla banzola.
In Modena, by Bartolomeo Soliani, 1740.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The title, roughly translatable as Remedies for Sleep to Read During Levees, directly recalls the ancient custom of evening gatherings around the hearth, when families and neighbours spent long winter evenings together, working, telling stories and exchanging news. Lotti turns this domestic setting into a small theatre of Bologna’s society. The six dialogues, traditionally identified as The Servant, Groppo and Macchia, The Singer, The Farm, The Bonfire and The Hypochondria, describe recognizable characters and universal behaviors. Particularly significant is the dialogue The Singer, devoted to the ambitions and vanities of the musical world. Lotti targets aspiring virtuous women and theatrical conventions with satire that anticipates themes later developed in Italian comic and musical literature. The writing alternates hendecasyllables and fourteeners, using the dialect not as mere folkloric curiosity, but as an authentic instrument of psychological and social observation. The work also constitutes a precious testimony of the female condition and domestic sociability in early eighteenth century. The dedication to the women and citizens of Bologna underscores the work’s intended audience as different from that of traditional erudite literature.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
Lotto Lotti (Bologna, 1657 – Venice, 1714) was a dialect poet and librettist active in the cultural and theatre scene between the 17th and 18th centuries. His output is characterized by attention to spoken language, theatre and the comedy of everyday situations. Through Rimedi per la sonn, Lotti secured a significant place in Bologna’s literary tradition, contributing to the preservation of the city’s dialect and its expressive forms. His satire shows affinities with contemporary comedy and with the tradition of theatrical dialogues, while his attention to the world of music reveals direct knowledge of showbusiness environments.

PRINTING HISTORY
The first edition of Rimedi per la sonn da liezr alla banzola appeared in Milan in 1703 at Carlo Federico Gagliardi. The work’s success led to several reprintings during the eighteenth century. Editions of 1704, 1712 and 1732 are documented, in addition to the present Modenese impression of 1740, explicitly indicated as the sixth edition. The 1740 edition is distinguished by the editor’s declaration of an addition by the author previously unpublished. This feature gives it particular interest in the textual history of the work, as it documents the continuation and expansion of its publishing fortune after the author’s death. Soliani’s Modena printing house fits into the tradition of Emilian presses active in disseminating literary, religious and popular works.

RARITY
The initial 1703 edition is bibliographically rare and sought after. The later eighteenth‑century impressions are also of uncommon availability, though it is not possible to attribute to the present edition a precise rarity rating without a systematic census of copies. The 1740 edition has specific interest for its textual enlargement and for the presence of the frontispiece, a feature to be considered carefully in bibliographic evaluation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Luigi Frati, Opere della bibliografia bolognese che si conservano nella Biblioteca municipale di Bologna, Bologna, 1888–1889, vol. II, col. 858, n. 7036 e seguenti.
Maria Grazia Accorsi, Poesia in dialetto: Lotto Lotti e il suo modello milanese, «Giornale Storico della Letteratura Italiana», 151, 1974, pp. 233–264 and 391–427.
Maria Grazia Accorsi, edizione critica dei Rimedi per la sonn, Bologna, 1980, in the series Scelta di curiosità letterarie inedite o rare dal secolo XIII al XIX, no. 273.
Maria Grazia Accorsi, Dialetto e dialettalità in Emilia Romagna dal Sei al Novecento, Bologna, 1982.