Abstract

The essay analyse and redefine the role of the family library in Recanati for the intellectual education of Giacomo Leopardi. Considering the studies and the first writings of the major italian writer, especially focussing on the years between 1811 and 1817, the paper underlines the importance of the literary topos of the 'puer eruditus', on which the young Leopardi organizes his self-image, his studies and his writings, and which will have a major impact on his late production.