Through the recovery of the extensive material produced by Antonio La Penna from the 1960s to the beginning of the 21st century, two of his distinguished pupils succeeded in building a complete collection of essays and interventions he dedicated to the history of philology and classical studies in Italy between the 19th and 20th centuries. As emerges from their enlightening introduction, Stefano Grazzini and Giovanni Niccoli masterfully accomplished an enormous effort to bring a variety of topics together into one comprehensive resource, that reflects the breadth of La Penna’s cultural and scientific interests.

Within the book, considerable space is devoted to the relationship between German and Italian culture in the field of classical studies during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In particular, the influence of German philological science on the birth of Italian philology is investigated, as well as the anti-Germanic reaction of illustrious classicists such as Giuseppe Fraccaroli and Ettore Romagnoli. A
number of contributions are intended to clarify the process of modernization of classical studies and, in general, of public education in Italy in the aftermath of the Unification and the function played by the main social actors (schools and universities, cultural institutions, journals, publishing houses). Another topic of inquiry is the cult of Romanity before and during the Fascist twenty-year period, to which masterful pages are dedicated.

The first volume will soon be complemented by a second one, in which critical profiles of scholars of different orientations and disciplinary backgrounds are outlined, including the eminent personality of Giorgio Pasquali.