It is all about a detailed report of
a journey that took place between May and July 1926 from the U.S. to the Po
delta, in which the author describes places and situations with a researcher's
eye. It is likely, according to the syntax and sentences construction, that this
manuscript was written by someone who is used to lay words on paper. There are
very few cross outs, and they are all nervously underlined. Furthermore, the
writing is enriched with maps, house and window sketches, and drawings of
strange animals… The text is a treasure of ideas and situations related with the
"fole" (oral tales) of the peasant tradition in the Polesine region, which have
apparently inspired the "writer". Mysterious texts, kept and consulted in
Venice's (Marciana) and Rovigo's (Accademia dei Concordi) public libraries, are
also mentioned.
The part mentioning the libraries
enlightens us about the author's fondness for the supernatural:
"Among the great number of volumes one
attracted me particularly: it was an in-folio pamphlet, classified under the
number… - in this point there is a big cross out that nearly tears the page
- (…) At first sight it looked like a book of magic that would reveal secrets
given from other - here also we found a crossed out sentence - (…) that
reminded me of something I read some time ago. Anyway, its reading was so
exiting that it gave me an interesting idea for a project I had in mind",
As well as his curiosity about the
tales telling mysterious apparitions of fantastic creatures in the most distant
part of the delta:
"(…) has noticed a big animal, it
seemed dark green or shady gray-brown". (…) "he stated the thing had a childish
body, not taller than five feet, topped by a big flat frog head with protruding
eyes".
People's name and toponyms are often indicated by
their first letter, complicating any research attempt but making the reading
much more spellbinding. Furthermore, a fascinating postcard laid in the
manuscript: it pictured the "Caffè Florian in 1800", in place San Marco, Venice,
and it had a writing on the back:
"Jan 8, 1937…I have
good grounds for believe that this needful thing some way come back home...
Tempus Fugit… Grandpa Theo
It is this pseudonymous that prompts
our search for the writer's identity. Grandpa Theo was actually Lovercraft's
nickname in his letters to younger friends and colleagues.
Sebastiano Fusco, contacted in order
to verify the manuscript's trueness, stated that "if this document had really
belonged to Lovercraft, it would cast a shade of mystery on his biography, not
to mention its great artistic value". This would also enforce the supposed
connections between the "Filò" tales of the Polesine region and the Chtulhu's
and Great Ancient's myths.
The finding of the manuscript in
Montecatini can be considered as another piece of the puzzle: in this city lived
for more than fifty years Alfred Galpin, one of Lovercraft's favourite students,
with whom he had an intense correspondence. The date on the postcard is also a
clue : January 8, 1937 is two moths before the writer's death which took place
on March 15 of that same year. The "tempus fugit" appearing before the signature
might mean that Lovercraft was already aware of his imminent death, and that he
decided to get rid of the manuscript by sending it to Alfred Gapin, who had just
moved to Italy.
In reference to this clue,
Sebastiano Fusco suggest the likelihood that Lovercraft wished to eventually
give a logical explanation to the Chtulhu myth, which he pretended for years to
be a product of his personal dream-like fantasy.
The manuscript ends on July 4, 1926, when the author dismisses with a sort of rhetoric epitaph: "Happy birthday America. I feel a little sad being so far from home while my country is celebrating liberty". In a last thought the traveller states that during his long trip home he will try hard to imagine fantastic circumstances that go beyond the limits of human mind. This last reflection enlightens us about the origin of this mysterious document.
Fuori Fuoco - Cinema, ribelli e rivoluzionari