they were being threatened with death if any one of them moved, and horrified and convinced that a great number of men blocked their exit from the theater and the city, none of them dared to flee for home. The list [of town dignitaries, previously obtained by Pelloni’s Gang] was read and those listed were forced to make a pecuniary contribution … The robbers then entered the homes of those tallied and those of other noblemen as well. Without any regard to age or condition, the robbers made enormous abuses and they did not even spare those who were ill. In vain, they attempted to force open the doors to the Bank of the Monte di Pieta. They violated a woman.” Transcribed from Leonida, Costa,
Il rovescio della medaglia: storia inedita del brigante Stefano Pelloni detto il Passatore
(Faenza: Fratelli Lega Editori, 1976), 379–81. For a more detailed report of the events of that day, see Francesco Serantini,
Fatti memorabili della Banda del Passatore in terra di Romagna
(Faenza: Fratelli Lega Editori, 1929). Max David (
Il Romanzo del “Passatore
” [Milan: Rusconi, 1977], 66) wrote that Artusi’s father was in attendance and that despite his efforts not to reveal the location of his home, he was accompanied there by some of Pelloni’s men: “However well informed they may have been, Stuane’s (vernacular for Stefano) men had labored greatly trying to find the address of the [Artusi] family. But in Forlimpopoli everyone knew everyone and it only took a few slaps to make one of the victims talk. When the robbers arrived at the home, the old Artusi managed in time to hide. But his son Pellegrino and his three sisters, who had sought refuge on the roof, remained there. One of the sisters, Gertrude, paid dearly as a result of her fear: she went mad and died in an asylum.” In his
Autobiografia
(82) Artusi objects, rather elegantly, I must add, to the rendition of the event authored by another poet: “ [Arnaldo] Fusinato was poorly inspired in my opinion, when he thought he could narrate the worthy enterprise of the Ferryman in playful verse.” Considering that of the “50,000 singing
scudi
” pocketed by the gang, many had to be contributed directly by his family, and that, above all, the violated woman was more than likely Artusi’s own sister Gertrude, the idea of defining Fusinato as a victim of poor inspiration is a stroke of genius as well as a rare, and not easily forgettable, touch of class.
86 For himself as well as for others. He regarded railroad stocks and treasury bonds as the most secure investments. See Artusi,
Autobiografia, l06
. Illustrated by a slightly misinformed biographical profile, Artusi’s name actually appears in the
Dizionario storico dei banchieri italiani
(Historical dictionary of Italian bankers; Florence, 1951).
87 They all married, except for Gertrude, who spent the rest of her life in mental institutions.
88 Capatti and Pollarini, eds.,
Autobiografia
, 15. They go on to add that “Epicureanism is a duty in lay society” (22).
89 See his preface, p. 7, below.
90 Artusi,
Autobiografia
, “5.
91 Another colorful member of the gang was the Brazilian Francesco Mosquera de Magalhaes, “a learned man, a free-thinking man whose goodness knew now bounds. He suffered from chronic pneumonia, which would lead him to his grave after 25 years of constant friendship. It hurt me that I was not able to assist him in his last moments of life because his wife thought that I would perhaps disapprove of the nuns to whom she had entrusted his care … I knew that I was not desired at my dear friend’s bedside”
(Autobiografia
, 97).
92 In 1875 (Milan: V. Maisner e Compagnia, Editori), Giglioli published his
Viaggio intorno al globo della Regia Pirocorvetta Italiana Magenta negli anni 1865–1866, 1867, 1868
, one of the earliest scientific (and tragicomic) scientific explorations commissioned by the Italian government and financed with public money.
93 A precious glimpse of the life of this
Il rovescio della medaglia: storia inedita del brigante Stefano Pelloni detto il Passatore
(Faenza: Fratelli Lega Editori, 1976), 379–81. For a more detailed report of the events of that day, see Francesco Serantini,
Fatti memorabili della Banda del Passatore in terra di Romagna
(Faenza: Fratelli Lega Editori, 1929). Max David (
Il Romanzo del “Passatore
” [Milan: Rusconi, 1977], 66) wrote that Artusi’s father was in attendance and that despite his efforts not to reveal the location of his home, he was accompanied there by some of Pelloni’s men: “However well informed they may have been, Stuane’s (vernacular for Stefano) men had labored greatly trying to find the address of the [Artusi] family. But in Forlimpopoli everyone knew everyone and it only took a few slaps to make one of the victims talk. When the robbers arrived at the home, the old Artusi managed in time to hide. But his son Pellegrino and his three sisters, who had sought refuge on the roof, remained there. One of the sisters, Gertrude, paid dearly as a result of her fear: she went mad and died in an asylum.” In his
Autobiografia
(82) Artusi objects, rather elegantly, I must add, to the rendition of the event authored by another poet: “ [Arnaldo] Fusinato was poorly inspired in my opinion, when he thought he could narrate the worthy enterprise of the Ferryman in playful verse.” Considering that of the “50,000 singing
scudi
” pocketed by the gang, many had to be contributed directly by his family, and that, above all, the violated woman was more than likely Artusi’s own sister Gertrude, the idea of defining Fusinato as a victim of poor inspiration is a stroke of genius as well as a rare, and not easily forgettable, touch of class.
86 For himself as well as for others. He regarded railroad stocks and treasury bonds as the most secure investments. See Artusi,
Autobiografia, l06
. Illustrated by a slightly misinformed biographical profile, Artusi’s name actually appears in the
Dizionario storico dei banchieri italiani
(Historical dictionary of Italian bankers; Florence, 1951).
87 They all married, except for Gertrude, who spent the rest of her life in mental institutions.
88 Capatti and Pollarini, eds.,
Autobiografia
, 15. They go on to add that “Epicureanism is a duty in lay society” (22).
89 See his preface, p. 7, below.
90 Artusi,
Autobiografia
, “5.
91 Another colorful member of the gang was the Brazilian Francesco Mosquera de Magalhaes, “a learned man, a free-thinking man whose goodness knew now bounds. He suffered from chronic pneumonia, which would lead him to his grave after 25 years of constant friendship. It hurt me that I was not able to assist him in his last moments of life because his wife thought that I would perhaps disapprove of the nuns to whom she had entrusted his care … I knew that I was not desired at my dear friend’s bedside”
(Autobiografia
, 97).
92 In 1875 (Milan: V. Maisner e Compagnia, Editori), Giglioli published his
Viaggio intorno al globo della Regia Pirocorvetta Italiana Magenta negli anni 1865–1866, 1867, 1868
, one of the earliest scientific (and tragicomic) scientific explorations commissioned by the Italian government and financed with public money.
93 A precious glimpse of the life of this
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