Luigi Casolini, Essay of Praises Without the R… Milan, Milan, Printed by Manini and Company, 1820.

Luigi Casolini, Essay of Praises Without the R… Milan, Milan, Printed by Manini and Company, 1820.

Octavo. Pages XVI, 184, [2]. Original binding in speckled calf. Minimal spotting but a very, very beautiful copy. On the title page, as shown in the photo, a huge ownership signature from the era ‘Giuseppe Agostino Malfino’.

A beautiful and rare edition of this masterpiece that mocks the ‘R’: 200 pages of praise, densely packed, without even the shadow of that malevolent letter. Perfect lipograms and without errors! It seems the author – like me – suffered from that bothersome speech impediment commonly known as ‘weak R’. Tired of everyone who, when he pronounced ‘three’, would respond ‘what did you say? Six?’, he devoted his genius to writing this fantastic typographic testimony of his annoyance!

Only four copies recorded in Italian libraries. In honour of Casolini, I would have liked to write this description without using the ‘r’, but today I feel as lazy as a lizard resting in a rural gorge and I cannot stop thinking of words containing the ‘r’. A bit like Homer with beer. Do you think it’s easy? Write a 200-page text in Italian without a damn ‘R’!! And anyway, yes, the Weak R creates monsters! Mythical text, sold here with Blockchain Secured, if desired, and with BuyBack, guaranteed!