Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
historians (Giovanetti 1992). All these reconstructions have in common an almost
total reliance on contemporary journalistic sources as their providers of raw data. To
understand how this can have influenced the resulting depiction of the 1789 earth-
quake, it is necessary to consider how exhaustive a view of the 1789 earthquake can
be derived from contemporary journalistic sources.
A comparison between earthquake reports printed in a large sample of gazettes
published in October/November 1789 (Avvisi di Genova 1789; Diario Estero 1789;
Diario Ordinario 1789a, 1789b, 1789c; Gazette de France 1789; Gazzetta di Bologna
1789a, 1789b, 1789c; Gazzetta di Mantova 1789d; Gazzetta Toscana 1789a, 1789b;
Gazzetta Universale 1789a, 1789b, 1789c; Gentleman's Magazine 1789;
Mercurio de Espana 1789a, 1789b; Notizie del Mondo 1789a, 1789b, 1789c;
Notizie politiche 1789a, 1789b) allows to identify a few descriptions that, judging
from their wide circulation, must have been particularly influential in creating a
“popular image” of the 1789 earthquake:
a) the earliest Florentine report, dated October 2 (Gazzetta Universale 1789a). It
was taken up by (Gazette de France 1789; Gazzetta di Bologna 1789a; Gazzetta
di Mantova 1789d; Gazzetta Toscana 1789a; Gentleman's Magazine 1789;
Mercurio de Espana 1789a; Notizie del Mondo 1789b); a summary of effects
in Sansepolcro with a few rumours about effects in the Papal States;
b) the earliest Roman report, dated October 7 (Notizie politiche 1789a). It was taken
up by (Gazzetta di Bologna 1789a; Notizie del Mondo 1789a); a summary of
effects in Citta di Castello and district, with a few hints on Tuscany;
c) an anonymous report, published in Florence on October 17 (Gazzetta Toscana
1789b), whose author was one abbe Lampredi of Anghiari, a village near the
Tuscan-Papal border (Lampredi 1789). On October 1, 1789 Lampredi crossed
the border, walked as far as Citta di Castello and went back home to write
a stirring tale of devastation. The report printed in (Gazzetta Toscana 1789b)
would also be reprinted, verbatim, by the Roman periodical (Notizie politiche
1789b);
d) a journalistic pamphlet (Brami 1789) printed in Citta di Castello, probably at
the end of October 1789, on behalf of the Municipality that wished “to set right
many errors seen in previous reports” (a possible reference to Lampredi's one).
It details the damage suffered by the main monuments of Citta di Castello, with
special reference to the loss of important artworks, adding summary descriptions
of earthquake effects in a few minor localities of the district and information on
the official response to the emergency.
All these accounts agree in presenting the 1789 earthquake as a shocking drama
whose main protagonist is Citta di Castello, though a few other affected localities
are also singled out for consideration (Sansepolcro, San Giustino, Selci, Cospaia).
The damage sustained by the main public and private buildings of Citta di Castello is
extensively detailed, while descriptions of earthquake effects in the lesser localities
tend to be global and to privilege the most dramatic episodes.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search