Gerusalemme Conquistata
Attenderò a la revisione, a la correzione, ed a l’accrescimento de la mia Gerusalemme; la quale aveva deliberato che fosse di ventiquattro canti: ma da poi ho pensato d’aggiunger a ciascun d’essi, o a la maggior parte, molte stanze, accioché il libro sia risguardevole per la convenevol grandezza, non solo per la bella stampa e per la carta reale.
[“I shall attend to the revision, correction and development of my Gerusalemme; twenty-four cantos had been decided upon, but then I thought of adding to each or most of these many more stanzas, thus making the book worthy in its substantial length and not only for the beauty of the print and its royal paper” (translated from T. Tasso, Le lettere, edited by C. Guasti, 5 vols, Florence, Le Monnier, 1852-55, vol. III, 82)].
In this extract from a letter to Lorenzo Malpiglio dating from the second half of 1586, Tasso indicated his intention to rework his epic once more, with specific corrections in mind. Some of the main changes to the plot (omitting the Sofronia episode, reducing the role of Armida, emphasizing the biblical sources in Goffredo’s dream, etc.) had been announced in an earlier letter to Malpiglio (T. Tasso, Le lettere, edited by C. Guasti, 5 vols, Florence, Le Monnier, 1852-55, vol. II, 556), as had his more general intention of increasing the work’s historical foundation and revising its allegory in a fully Christian direction. On this basis, and using a print of the Liberata which had been published without his approval, Tasso began creating the Gerusalemme conquistata. The rewritings and revisions continued until summer 1592, when his new draft (in part reflected in ms. Vind. Lat. 72 at the National Library at Naples) went to print. The actual published work appeared only in 1593, in Rome, by Facciotti, with a dedication to Cinzio Aldobrandini. There were some changes to the plot, but above all this version of his epic showed a greater reliance on the Homeric model, and deployed a lofty, eloquent style in place of the marvellous variety of tones and sentiments that had featured in the Liberata.
