The Story of My Life by Giacomo Casanova is recognized as one of the books of world literature of artistic value. But more than three hundred years have passed since the death of a very controversial figure of his time.
Giovanni Giacomo Casanova lived a very long time by the standards of his time - more than 50 years (1725 - 1778) For the whole world, his name has become a household name, and all thanks to his active work and writing talent. However, apart from his memoirs, he never published anything significant, having written more than 20 works that did not bring him fame and respect. His memoirs brought him scandalous fame for the exceptional versatility of his intimate life.
The Austrian writer, who devoted several monographs to Casanova, Stefan Zweig wrote in one of his essays that “since then neither the poet nor the philosopher has created a novel more entertaining than his life, nor an image more fantastic”.
Making memoirs
The memoirs were written in French and described, as the author wrote, the "worthless" life of Giacomo until 1774, although the full title of the book is "History of my life until 1797" (Histoire de ma vie). The thing is that by the time the author died, the memoirs had not been completed, and Casanova himself doubted the advisability of such a publication. An abridged version of the book was published in the period 1822-1829.
The last additions to The Book of My Life were made in 1797, when Casanova had already retired from secular life and was vegetating as a librarian in Count Waldstein's castle. In his memoirs, he wrote that "the only medicine that did not allow one to go crazy" was working on his memoirs.
Only ten years after the death of the author, his book was published by a German publisher and in German.
Edition
The Russian history of the publication of Memoirs can be started with the journal "Son of the Fatherland", which in 1823 published excerpts from a German edition called "Paris of the 18th century from the notes of Casanova". Later, F. Dostoevsky also published excerpts from his memoirs in his journal Vremya, and in 1902, under the editorship of Chuikov, the first two books of memoirs were published, in which all of Casanova's amorous adventures were abridged.
In 1927, the first volume of "The Story of My Life" by Giacomo Casanova was published, but the release of the following volumes was banned by the censors. The full translated edition was published in Russia only in 1990.
Among modern editions, one can note such books as “Casanova. The Story of a Myth "M. Gubareva. In 2009, the publishing house of M. Zakharov published a complete essay by Giacombo Casanova "The Story of My Life".
In addition, Casanova's book can be read in electronic version in Internet libraries, for example, in the public domain, but in English it is presented: Casanova, Giacomo. History of My Life. The translated reprint is at the Public Library in New York.
Edward Radzinsky in the publishing house AST in 2011 published the book "The Riddles of History" about the life and work of D. Kazanova.
Casanova J. "The Story of My Life" translated from French by I. Staff and A. Stroev of the publishing house "Moskovsky Rabochiy" is available online only in parts.
