(1933). Psychoanalytic Review, 20:73-78 Casanova's claim to fame nowadays lies in his voluminous and exceptionally frank Memoirs. These are of interest in the first place, as Ellis points out, because “they constitute an important psychological document as the full and veracious presentation of a certain human type in its most complete development,” the human animal at his rankest and most cunning. In the second place they are of interest as a story of adventure, apart from their truth. Finally, they give an unequalled picture of private life in the eighteenth century. This picture is inestimably enhanced by the innumerable contacts which Casanova enjoyed with the greatest men and women of his time, both the most famous and the most notorious, in every sphere of life in both Europe and the Orient. The accuracy of the Memoirs, as a matter of fact, has been assailed at many points, but as Casanova's biographer, Guy Endore, observes, they may be even more revealing of the true Casanova than a close record [This is a summary or excerpt from the full text of the book or article. The full text of the document is available to subscribers.] |
