CHASING ‘TAILS’
[VERACI, Gaetano.]
Nuova cicalata sopra la coda in forma di lettera responsiva alla Signora N.N.
[S.l., s.n,. c. 1770.]
8vo, pp. 112, with copper-engraved frontispiece with motto ‘Si caudam renuis, sit tibi cauda retro’ (see below); browned throughout, occasional light spotting; nonetheless a good copy in contemporary mottled sheep-backed boards with mottled paper sides, spine gilt in compartments with gilt red morocco lettering-piece to spine, edges stained red; lightly rubbed, corners somewhat worn; p. 112 inscribed ‘Croiest 1774’ in ink at gutter, twentieth-century ink stamps of Vicenzo Rinaldo to title (faded) and p. 17.
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Nuova cicalata sopra la coda in forma di lettera responsiva alla Signora N.N.
Second edition, extremely rare and significantly expanded, of this highly suggestive, mock-academic panegyric on the ‘tail’.
The first edition was published for the author in 1765 ‘Nel Campo Cauditano’ (likely Florence), under the licentious pseudonym ‘Scarpafico Codacci’ and with a tribute to the anonymous marchioness ‘N.N.’ on the birth of her son; here, the dedication is replaced by a response from Signora N.N. in praise of the author, and Veraci’s work is itself more than doubled in length, inserting several new paragraphs at a time, in some cases including six consecutive pages of new material at once. He expounds on the literary significance of the tail at length, making reference to the Decameron and the Commedia, noting, for example, the significance of Minos passing judgment using his tail in the circle of the lustful, who had themselves ‘made poor use of their tails’ (p. 18, trans.).
The second edition is expanded with an additional discussion of other phallic symbols, including sceptres, keys, and even the Ace of Clubs. A particularly suggestive analysis of keys and keyholes reports advice from a locksmith that ‘some [keyholes] burn with too much heat, with no north wind to cool them; others are exceedingly moist, and dripping wet, for the sun’s rays cannot dry them; then there are others which are dry and rusty, and thus the key cannot enter; finally, some are so full of air that a key has never filled the void: these are occupied only by cobwebs, rust, and dust’ (pp. 20-21, trans.).
The frontispiece, present in both editions, depicts nude putti pulling the tails of a dog and an ox within a border of furry, intertwined tails.
Provenance: with the ink stamp of Venetian architect Vincenzo Rinaldo (1867–1927), best known for his neo-Gothic church of San Fior in Treviso and for his restoration of several churches following the First World War. His library was inherited by his nephew and pupil Lorenzo Rinaldo and subsequently dispersed.
ICCU finds a single copy, at the Biblioteca del Seminario Vescovile in Treviso, to which OCLC adds another, at the British Library.
For the first edition, see Melzi I, p. 205; neither edition in Kearney nor Pia.
