A new Tasso’s Autograph (Madrid, Real Biblioteca, ms. II/3281)

Abstract

The essay presents the discovery of Torquato Tasso’s autograph kept at
Madrid, Royal Library, ms. II/3281. The witness constitutes a fundamental finding within the textual tradition of Tasso’s Rime, since it is the original version of Tasso’s madrigals commissioned by Carlo Gesualdo. The first part of the article provides a physical description of the manuscript; the second part focuses on the historical context and more specifically on the events that preceded and followed the composition of the manuscript; finally, the third part focuses on the role of the codex in the constitutio textus