[Bodoniana] - Julius Nuvolettus / Rossetti - Ad Pium VII - 1800-1805

PIO VII AND DOMENICO ROSSETTI: TWO BODONIAN LITTLE WORKS BETWEEN MODENA AND PARMA
A pair of two rare tokens of occasional poetry: a Latin composition addressed to Pio VII, accompanied by an Elegy, and two sonnets composed by Domenico Rossetti for the birth of the firstborn son of the Rivetta and Gibello spouses.

WHY TO BUY: Two autonomous editions, united by a taste for celebratory poetry and refined neoclassical typography. The lot pairs Modena printing by Soliani with Parma printing by Rossi-Ubaldi, counted among Bodonian-inspired editions.

MARKET VALUE: Indicative estimate for the lot: €180–250. One auction has awarded €375 for a different lot of three Parma publications that also included Rossetti; the result provides a comparison reference.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION: Two pamphlets with distinct title pages. In Nuvoletti the decorated blue-and-pink geometric paper cover is preserved; the Elegy occupies pages numbered III–V and the colophon is at the end. Light foxing to the pages and signs of handling to the cover. For Rossetti, the cover, collation, and conservation state are good.

FULL TITLES AND AUTHORS:
First work: - Ad Pium VII. P. O. M. / Julius Canonicus Nuvolettus / Beneficiatus Patritius Basilicae Liberianae; with Elegy. Giulio Nuvoletti, Latinized as Julius Nuvolettus.
Second work: - Per un vivacissimo fanciullo di tre mesi, figlio primogenito de’ conjugi il signor Pietro Rivetta e la signora Giuseppina Gibello. Sonetti due dell’avvocato Domenico Rossetti.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE: The Nuvoletti composition is addressed to Pio VII and accompanied by an Elegy. The second pamphlet celebrates the birth of the first-born son of Pietro Rivetta and Giuseppina Gibello; Rossetti later included the first sonnet in his Poetic Works under the title Per un vivacissimo fanciullo di sei mesi. The frontispiece formula “Basilica Liberiana” identifies Santa Maria Maggiore.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHORS: Giulio Nuvoletti was born in Scandiano in 1734 and died in 1811. A canon and scholar, he taught humanities and rhetoric at the Collegio San Carlo in Modena; he wrote religious and celebratory poetry, dialogues, and occasional prose. His papers and letters, dated from 1773 to 1811, are registered in the Vallisneri Archive of the State Archives in Reggio Emilia.
Domenico Rossetti, listed on the title page as a lawyer, was also a poet and author of pieces tied to the theatrical and cultural life of Parma.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION: The Nuvoletti text was printed in Modena in 1805 by the heirs of Bartolomeo Soliani: “MUTINAE, TYPIS HAEREDUM BARTHOLOMAEI SOLIANI, MDCCCV.” The Rossetti pamphlet appeared in Parma, for Marco Rossi and Andrea Ubaldi, around 1800.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES: Giovanni Prampolini, Giulio Nuvoletti: poeta e letterato. Scandiano, 1734–1811: la sua vita, il suo tempo, le sue opere, Scandiano, Libreria Marco Polo, 2005. For Rossetti: Lino Spadaccini, biographical and bibliographical reconstruction published in Noi Vastesi.