CENTRO DI STUDI MALASPINIANI
"ALESSANDRO MALASPINA"
Mulazzo, Massa-Carrara, Italia
NEWSLETTER OF THE CENTRO
Year 2, no. 5
April 10/2001
Edited by Dario Manfredi, Translated by John Black
NEWS
1. On March 17 the Town Council of Mulazzo approved a motion proposing
to the Region of Tuscany – which has jurisdiction over this matter – that
the official name of the town be amended. According to this proposal
the town would be called "Mulazzo Malaspina," in memory of the Navigator
who was born there on November 5,1754. The proposal was adopted as
the result of an initiative by the officials of nine Lunigianese cultural
institutions, who brought to the Town Council an appeal-letter in which
were explained the reasons for and the opportune nature of this historic
change. The letter was signed by: the Accademia Lunigianese di Scienze
"Giovanni Capellini," the Associazione "Amici del Campanone," the Associazione
Culturale Lunigianese, the Associazione "Manfredo Giuliani" per le Ricerche
Storiche ed Etnografiche della Lunigiana, the Centro Aullese di Ricerche
e di Studi Lunigianesi, the Centro
di Studi Malaspiniani "Alessandro Malaspina," the Centro di Studi Umanistici
"Niccolò V," the Cinquecentesca Accademia degli Imperfetti, the
Deputazione di Storia Patria per le Province Parmensi, and the Istituto
Internazionale di Studi Liguri.
2. On April 1 in Montignoso (Massa), the Aghinolfi Castle was
opened to the public. The
fortification, which dates back more than a thousand years, belonged
for some time to the Malaspina family. Its restoration has been carried
out to very high standards, allowing one to read clearly the various
phases of construction.
3. On April 9 – the anniversary of the death of Alexandro
Malaspina – at the Centro di Studi Malaspiniani,
a working meeting took place to develop a program of research for 2001-2002.
The outcome of this meeting will be reported in an upcoming newsletter.
4. On the proposal of Dario Manfredi, Prof. Rossana Piccioli,
Director the Civico
Museo Etnografico della Spezia, has agreed to collaborate closely with
the Centro and, in particular, to take over the running of the "Archive
of Lunigiana" (19th century) and
"Malaspina Expedition" (ethnography branch) sections.
PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED
J. GIL, Miti e utopie della scoperta. Oceano Pacifico: l’epopea dei
navigatori, Milan, Garzanti, 1992, 440 pp.
In this well-documented volume (first edition 1989),
the final section of Chapter XI (pp. 373-381) is devoted to the Malaspina
Expedition. With all respect for the authority of the author, we do not
concur at all in the final evaluation of the thought of Malaspina.
J. Gil argues that, in 1792, Malaspina would have excluded Francisco Mourelle
de la Rua from the expedition in search of the Northwest Passage (carried
out by the schooners Sutil and Mexicana), on the grounds that "in the
rigid thinking of Mourelle there was room only for an absolutist conception
of power, while Malaspina leaned towards more liberal ideas."
Such a claim is supported on the basis of the actions of Mourelle on the
occasion of the insurrection at Riego, whose troops were shelled by the
naval squadron stationed at Cádiz. Now, apart from the fact
that there is a typographical error in the Italian edition which makes
the account pretty well incomprehensible (the revolt of Riego, in fact,
happened in 1820, and not in 1720, as written), the fact remains that Malaspina,
in 1792,
could hardly have supposed what the position of his colleague
would be almost thirty years later, and ten years after his own death…
In truth, it is a great deal easier to suppose that Malaspina – who had
great pride about the scientific enterprise he was carrying out – wanted
also to keep the secondary expedition in the northwest under the direction
of officers who were his subordinates; and in fact the two schooners were
commanded by Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and
Cayetano
Valdés.
I. VAZQUEZ DE ACUÑA, «La expedición científico-política
del capitán de navío don Alejandro Malaspina (1789-1794)»,
Boletín
de la Academia Chilena de la Historia, n. 108-109, Santiago, 2000,
pp. 133-174.
The author – who is a member of the Academia Chilena
de la Historia and of other prestigious academies in various countries
– offers in this paper the adumbration of a complex research project on
the naval history of Chile. The bibliography is very full, even if not
completely up-to-date. Unfortunately, we must point out the usual
inaccuracies about the fiefdom of Lunigiana and the true historical role
of the Malaspina family.
G. CAPELLINI, Ricordi di un viaggio scientifico nell’America settentrionale
nel MDCCCLXIII, Bologna, Vitali, 1867, 280 pp..
G. CAPELLINI, Relazione di un viaggio scientifico fatto nel MDCCCLXIII
nell’America settentrionale, Bologna, Gamberini e Parmeggiani, 1864,
44 pp.
The famous geologist Giovanni Capellini, in 1863, visited the northeastern
part of the United States ofAmerica and Québec.
Discovery, anno 1776. Il terzo viaggio del Capitano
Cook, Genova, Turmena, 1997, 30 pp.
This is the catalog of an exhibition held at the Acquario
di Genova from September 19, 1996 to March 19, 1997. We draw your
attention to a paragraph devoted to Nootka and a reference to the ethnographic
collection of Cook's third voyage kept at the Museo Nazionale di
Antropologia e Etnologia di Firenze.
M.G. ARMANINI e M. TANGHERONI (eds.), Gli Obertenghi di Massa e della
Lunigiana ed i regni della Sardegna (secoli XII.XIV), Pisa, Pacini,
1999, 150 pp.
We highlight, among various articles:
- R. RICCI, «Il ramo Obertengo da cui i "Massa-Corsica"
e gli stessi fino alla conquista del Giudicato di Cagliari (1033-1192)
tra Massa e Lunigiana» (pp. 69-83)
We point out one error: Marquis Obertp's act of renouncing
the four Lunensian parishes was neither in 988 (as is written on p. 72)
nor in 986 (as is written on p. 76), but rather in 998.
- A. SODDU, «Storia della penetrazione dei Malaspina
nel Logudoro» (pp. 109-121).
This very accurate work has been compiled using much unpublished documentation
contained in the Archivio Domestico dei Malaspina di Mulazzo.
P. CAMPODONICO (ed.), Storie di polene, Genova, Tormena, 1997, 48
pp.
A. BARBUTO, Nostra Signora dell’Acquasanta, La Spezia, Ed. del
Tridente, 1991, 44 pp.
A recapitulation of the history of the Mariano Sanctuary
(situated in the Gulf of La Spezia) and of the traces of ancient water-cults,
probably going back to prehistory.
R.E.G. PICHI SERMOLLI, Contributo alla Storia della Botanica in Toscana.
Precursori dell’esplorazione floristica delle Alpi Apuane, Verona,
Associazione Nazionale Musei Scientifici, 1999, 290 pp.
Contains biographies and bibliographies of the following
naturalists: Luca Ghini, Luigi Anguillara, Andrea Cesalpino, Ulisse Aldrovandi,
Michele e Baldasare Campi, Paolo (Silvio) Boccone, Bruno Tozzi, Pier Antonio
Micheli, Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti, Fulgenzio Vitman, Domenico Viviani,
Antonio Bertoloni, Antonio Bottari, Gerolamo Guidoni, Giuseppe Bertoloni.
PUBLISHING NOTES AND COMMENTS
«Revista del Instituto de Estudios Histórico-Marítimos
del Perú», no. 19 (2000).
We draw your particular attention to the articles by
F. Kauffmann: Doig (Tupac Yupanqui rumbo a Oceanía) and J.
Castañeda: Murga (Apuntes para la etnohistoria del litoral de
los valles de Trujillo).
«Varzi viva», VII (April 2001)
We point out the news that our friend Giacomo Malaspina
has been recognized by the Council of the Italian Nobility as a member
of the aristocracy, having been able to show beyond doubt that he is descended
from the Malaspinas of Mulazzo.
In this edition is reprinted an article by D. Manfredi (L’araldica
della casa Malaspina) which already appeared in 1997 as a publication
of the Domus Malaspiniana.
R. MAMBELLI, «Castelli danteschi», I Viaggi di Repubblica,
31 January, 2001, pp. 41-47.
Popular article on the Malaspina castles of Lunigiana.
Some inaccuracies in the text
and in the photo-captions.
OUR ARCHIVE
An unpublished sketch by Antonio Pineda,
naturalist on the Malaspina Expedition.
The collection of the sketches produced by the Malaspina Expedition (1)
has recently been enriched with a new addition. (2).
The piece, in truth, is not of great artistic value and has not even
reached us in good condition; nevertheless, it has the claim to uniqueness
of being - so far - the only one which has appeared in Italy. Fortunately,
it has found the most appropriate of resting-places: in fact, it now forms
part of the archive of the Centro "Alessandro Malaspina" in Mulazzo (3).
The drawing, or rather sketch, is in pencil and takes up a little less
than half a sheet of 310 x 220 mm. (v. fig.).
Underneath, still in pencil, appears the caption "Vista de un grupo
de basaltos en la Barranca oriental sacada del O desde la casa del
administrador [View of a group of basalt columns in the eastern ravine,
from W of the administrator's house]."
The handwriting shows certain similarities to that of the naturalist
Anthony Pineda, suggesting attribution of the sketch to him; besides, among
the naturalists of the expedition, it was Pineda who was most interested
in lithology. (4).
The simple reference "barranca oriental" does not allow identification
of the site with absolute
certainty; nevertheless, knowing that the Malaspina Expedition visited
and drew a geographical chart of the coast of Uruguay "hasta las barrancas
del medio al oeste de Montevideo [as far as the ravines in the area to
the west of Montevideo]" (5), one can hazard a guess that
the sketch is of an adjacent area, or rather one situated to the east of
the central ravine.
The subject, as can be seen, is made up of basaltic rocks, not very
different from those of
Querétaro (Mexico) which were of so much interest to the artists
of the expedition. (6).
We note, finally, that the expedition naturalists' interest in the basalt
columns was likely to have been not only of an aesthetic nature (it being
also beyond doubt that the regularity of the basaltic prisms provoked a
certain interest) but also, and above all, of a speculative character.
In fact, at that time, studies were made of the volcanic origin of basalt
for the purpose of formulating, or
supporting, theories about the formation of the Earth.
D. M.
______
(1) See the catalogue of drawings in:
SOTOS SERRANO, C., Los pintores de la expedición de Alejandro
Malaspina, Madrid, Real Academia de la Historia, 1982, vol. 2, pp.
300, 716, ill.
(2) After the publication cited in the
preceding note - when it was thought that all the surviving graphic works
of the expedition were known - the works of Fernando
Brambilla came to light in London.; see SOTOS SERRANO C., Nuevas
obras de Fernando Brambila en Londres, in Homenaje al Profesor Hernández
Perera, Madrid, Ed. Comunidad Autónoma de Canarias, 1992, pp.
453-458; BARBER P., Malaspina and George III. Brambila and Watling:
three rediscovered drawings of Sydney and Paramata, in PALAU M. - OROZCO
ACUAVIVA A. (eds.), Malaspina '92. I Jornadas Internacionales: Madrid
- Cádiz - La Coruña 17-25 Sept. 1992, Cádiz, R.Academia
Hispano-Americana, 1994, pp. 356-374.
(3) The sketch was included in the Ala
Ponzone estate, since its provenance, to all appearances, is identical;
see MANFREDI D. Inventari dei fondi "Ala Ponzone" e Ramón
Ximénez" conservati nell'Archivio del Centro "Alessandro Malaspina"
della Spezia, "Giornale Storico della Lunigiana", Nuova Serie, XL (1989),
pp. 135 - 160. We should mention, by the way, that since 1992 the
above estate archives are no longer found in La Spezia, but in Mulazzo.
(4) Lola Higueras Rodríguez - whose
opinion we sought - agrees with us. We express here our heartfelt thanks
for the ongoing collaboration and the true friendship she continues to
show towards us.
(5) See HIGUERAS RODRIGUEZ M.D., Catálogo
crítico de los documentos de la Expedición Malaspina /1789-1794)
del Museo Naval, Madrid, Museo
Naval, vol. II, 1987, doc. no. 1634.
(6) See the drawings of Gutiérrez
and Brambilla, catalogue nos. 433 and 434, in SOTOS SERRANO, C., Los
pintores, cited above.
Return to AMRC Homepage
Italian Original