Invited by the publisher Antonio Fortunato Stella, who wanted him to oversee the publication of Cicero’s works, Leopardi reached Milan on 27th July 1825 and he stayed there till 26th September. With this publisher Giacomo had already worked in his youth, for example publishing some translations in his “Spettatore”. But in going to Milan his intention was to set up an ongoing relationship with the publisher; and he did in fact get a monthly cheque from Stella till the end of 1828 (the only earning he ever had). During that period, he oversaw for the editor the annotation of the Rhymes by Petrarch (1826), set up the two Crestomazie, of prose (1827) and poetry (1828), and published the Martirio de’ Santi Padri / Martyrdom of the Holy Fathers(1826and the Operette morali / Brief works on morality (1827).
His hope for a permanent arrangement with the Milanese publishers, Italy’s publishing capital, dated back to his youth; and from that point of view his relationship with Stella (and with his son Luigi) did not disappoint him. He was however very disappointed with city life: “I don’t like this place and am here despite myself”, he wrote to Pietro Brighenti on 8th August’25; “I live here unwillingly and for the most at home, because Milan is truly antisocial”, he told Carlo Antici on 20th August ’25; and lastly, writing on 7th September ’25 to Carlo, he traces an unforgiving judgement on his stay:
Quel che ti scrissi di Milano [che fosse “uno specimen di Parigi”], fu una mia osservazione precipitata. Il fatto si è che in Milano nessuno pensa a voi, e ciascuno vive a suo modo anche più liberamente che a Roma. Qui poi ... non v’è neppur una società fuorché il passeggio ossia trottata, e il caffè ... Roma e Bologna, in questo, sono due Parigi a confronto di Milano. Vedi dunque quanto io era lontano dal provare il senso dello scoraggiamento per non poter far figura in un luogo dove nessuno la fa, e dove centoventi mila uomini stanno insieme per caso, come centoventi mila pecore.
That which I wrote to you about Milan [That it was a “specimen of Paris”] was somewhat precipitous. The truth of the matter is that in Milan no one thinks of anyone else and each lives his own life even more so than in Rome. Here also ... there is no social life except for the walk or trot and the coffee houses ... Rome and Bologna, are in this way two Parises in comparison to Milan. You can thus see how far I was from experiencing a sense of discouragement for not being able to stand out in a place where no one does, and where a hundred thousand men are together by chance, like a hundred thousand sheep.
Milan
