Untitled - Istituto di Storia dell'Europa Mediterranea - Cnr

14
Little Do We Know. History and Historians
in Dr. Codignola's own work, or in his reflections on American and
European historiography. In all cases Dr. Codignola's insistence on the
careful use of sources in their historical context has shaped both his
reviews of historiography and his own production of historical
writing. The relationship between history, sources, and the historian is
the key theme that glues together this collection – except, perhaps, for
Part IV. Each chapter examines the use or – in most cases – the
misuse of primary sources or the lack of mastery of the historiography
on the part of a number of prominent North American and European
historians. The three articles of which Part IV consist illustrate the
development of American historiography in Italy and of Canadian
studies throughout Europe in the post-World War II era. They also
assess the European and specifically Italian scholarly contribution to
both fields of enquiry.
Part I, Historians and History, opens with a discussion of the
challenges facing any historian during his or her historical and
historiographical investigations (Ch. 1). These tensions can be
summarized by two simple yet provocative questions: why do we
study the past, and how do we connect it to our present times?
Codignola places his tentative answers to such tricky questions, so
common among historians, in the framework of a rigorous
methodological analysis. 1
This is followed by an examination of Filippo Mazzei, an eclectic
Tuscan who lived, in various capacities, in several western countries
(Ch. 2). Mazzei's entrepreneurial attitude, his good relationships with
American authors and politicians Benjamin Franklin and Thomas
Jefferson, and his experience as traveller, emigrant, and politician, led
to a fascinating correspondence that has justly attracted the attention
of many historians. 2 According to United States historian Jack P.
1 For two landmark reflections on this topic, see Marc Bloch, Apologie pour
l'histoire, ou métier d'historien (Paris: Cahiers des Annales, 1949); David
Lowenthal, The Past is a Foreign Country (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1985).
2 Edoardo Tortarolo, Illuminismo e rivoluzioni: biografia politica di Filippo Mazzei
(Milano: Franco Angeli, 1986); Guido Gerosa, Il fiorentino che fece l'America: vita
e avventure di Filippo Mazzei, 1730-1816 (Milano: SugarCo, 1990); Giovanni