Page "Alessandro Manzoni" Paragraph 9

Round the episode of the Innominato, historically identified with Bernardino Visconti, the first manuscript of the novel The Betrothed ( in Italian I Promessi sposi ) began to grow into shape, and was completed in September 1823.

The work was published, after being deeply reshaped by the author and revised by friends in 1825 – 1827, at the rate of a volume a year ; it at once raised its author to the first rank of literary fame.

It is generally agreed to be his greatest work, and the paradigm of modern Italian language.

In 1822, Manzoni published his second tragedy, Adelchi, turning on the overthrow by Charlemagne of the Lombard domination in Italy, and containing many veiled allusions to the existing Austrian rule.

With these works Manzoni ’ s literary career was practically closed.

But he laboriously revised The Betrothed in Tuscan-Italian, and in 1840 republished it in that form, with a historical essay, Storia della colonna infame, on details of the 17th century plague in Milan so important in the novel.

He also wrote a small treatise on the Italian language.