(Florence, 1881- therein,1956), a writer and great cultural promoter, was a protagonist and driving force of early twentieth-century Florentine culture. In 1903, he founded the magazine “Il Leonardo” with Giuseppe Prezzolini; in the same year, he was editor of Enrico Corradini’s “Il Regno” and was one of the most active contributors to “La Voce,” which he directed in 1912. In 1911, he founded the magazine “L'Anima” with Giovanni Amendola, and in 1913, “Lacerba” with Ardendo Soffici. His vast output ranges from novels to poetry and essays, expressing itself in the most varied registers: lyrical, psychological, mystical, and satirical. Here we recall only some of his works: “The Tragic Everyday” (1903), “The Twilight of the Philosophers” (1907), “One Hundred Pages of Poetry” (1915), “A Finished Man” (1913), “History of Christ” (1921), “Remote Past” (1948).
The Giovanni Papini Archive is divided into the following sections.
The section Correspondence, consisting of over 30.000 letters addressed to Papini by the more than 3000 correspondents with whom he maintained correspondence. To name just a few, nationally, Croce, Soffici, Prezzolini, Ungaretti, Amendola, Marinetti, Bargellini, De Luca, Giuliotti, Missiroli, Vallecchi, Palazzeschi, Assagioli, Vailati, Gallarati Scotti; and Europeanly, Bergson, Apollinaire, Gide, Eliade, H. James, W. James, Schiller, and numerous others.
The section Manuscripts, consisting of approximately 3.200 folders arranged in 66 boxes containing autographed, handwritten, and typewritten material; they range from numerous drafts of works to notes and scattered sheets documenting projects, sketches, and early works. This enormous amount of material is currently being organized and computerized into a catalog.
The section Photo Library, consisting of iconographic documentation spanning half a century of twentieth-century history, with numerous portraits of the most authoritative representatives of Italian and international culture of those years—Bargellini, Prezzolini, Soffici, Cardarelli, Carrà, De Robertis, Palazzeschi, Bergson, Boutroux, Daubler—and many group photographs of family members, acquaintances, and friends. This material includes a paper-based inventory, arranged alphabetically by subject.
The section Press Review, which preserves journalistic articles by and about G.Papini from 1897 to 1930.
The section Various, which collects iconographic material such as the sketches for the frontispieces and covers of some works by Papini and “Leonardo”, a 1914 issue of the magazine “Pravda”, a copy of “Lacerba” dated 1 January 1914 and some engravings by Durer, Soffici, Spadini and Martini that were attached to the issues of “Leonardo”.
