1reflect more than others the years that have passed. Nonetheless, they still
make pleasurable reading and, more important, they have remained in the
memory of those who read them as children: I have seen eyes shine at their
mention.
make pleasurable reading and, more important, they have remained in the
memory of those who read them as children: I have seen eyes shine at their
mention.
These writings originated in 1884 when the ex-publishing company
Lemonnier decided to produce a “Library for young girls” (even this label
conveys at once the sense of bygone years) and asked Caverni for a brief book
on elementary physics. He gave them L'estate in montagna (summer in the
mountains), a gentle book for young people whose subject is woven into a
delicate and ingenuous love story. A young invalid girl finds in the mountains
health and her young man, the author of popular notes on physics which have
amused and sustained her during the long months of her solitary convalescence.
This little volume with drawings by Mazzanti, popular illustrator of Collodi's
books, was well received and reached a third edition, which encouraged its
author to continue. At two-year intervals it was followed by Tra il verde e i
fiori (among the greens and flowers), a book on botany published in the same
series and Cogli occhi per terra (with eyes on the ground), dedicated to
mineralogy and published in Paggi's “Biblioteca Scolastica” (scholastic library).
Pursuit of this hobby, as we might call it, was for Caverni a singular prepara
tion for his most important work and perhaps an interlude during its actual
creation.
Lemonnier decided to produce a “Library for young girls” (even this label
conveys at once the sense of bygone years) and asked Caverni for a brief book
on elementary physics. He gave them L'estate in montagna (summer in the
mountains), a gentle book for young people whose subject is woven into a
delicate and ingenuous love story. A young invalid girl finds in the mountains
health and her young man, the author of popular notes on physics which have
amused and sustained her during the long months of her solitary convalescence.
This little volume with drawings by Mazzanti, popular illustrator of Collodi's
books, was well received and reached a third edition, which encouraged its
author to continue. At two-year intervals it was followed by Tra il verde e i
fiori (among the greens and flowers), a book on botany published in the same
series and Cogli occhi per terra (with eyes on the ground), dedicated to
mineralogy and published in Paggi's “Biblioteca Scolastica” (scholastic library).
Pursuit of this hobby, as we might call it, was for Caverni a singular prepara
tion for his most important work and perhaps an interlude during its actual
creation.
6. THE GREAT Storia
Since in this reprint, as in the 1890 version, the Relazione della Giunta del R.
Istituto Veneto deputata all'esame dei lavori presentati al concorso della
Fondazione Tomasoni (report of the Committee of the Royal Venetian In
stitute for the examination of the works presented for the Tomasoni Foundation
contest) precedes the text, readers are referred to that ample account for all
information regarding the genesis of the Storia del metodo sperimentale in
Italia (history of the experimental method in Italy) and its well-deserved
success in that contest whose prize was a sum roughly the equivalent of two
years'salary of a liceo professor! The concise comment on the entire work
found in the second part of that Relazione is particularly interesting. We know,
from the draft of a letter kept by the heirs, that the committee—and for it the
relatore, Antonio Favaro—made ample use of this critical summary in pre
paring the larger work for publication. It seems that the author himself had
been requested to provide the summary when awarded the prize since it had
been impossible to read all the three thousand folio pages thickly covered with
script which he had submitted. This contest, announced in 1880, had expired
March 31, 1889 when, after a first session in 1885, neither of the two works
presented had been found worthy of the prize. The judges, more than a year
later in the solemn session of May 25, 1890, proclaimed that work the winner
Istituto Veneto deputata all'esame dei lavori presentati al concorso della
Fondazione Tomasoni (report of the Committee of the Royal Venetian In
stitute for the examination of the works presented for the Tomasoni Foundation
contest) precedes the text, readers are referred to that ample account for all
information regarding the genesis of the Storia del metodo sperimentale in
Italia (history of the experimental method in Italy) and its well-deserved
success in that contest whose prize was a sum roughly the equivalent of two
years'salary of a liceo professor! The concise comment on the entire work
found in the second part of that Relazione is particularly interesting. We know,
from the draft of a letter kept by the heirs, that the committee—and for it the
relatore, Antonio Favaro—made ample use of this critical summary in pre
paring the larger work for publication. It seems that the author himself had
been requested to provide the summary when awarded the prize since it had
been impossible to read all the three thousand folio pages thickly covered with
script which he had submitted. This contest, announced in 1880, had expired
March 31, 1889 when, after a first session in 1885, neither of the two works
presented had been found worthy of the prize. The judges, more than a year
later in the solemn session of May 25, 1890, proclaimed that work the winner