In one of the last of these notebooks, Oakeshott writes, ‘This is a sort of Zibaldone: a written chaos.’ There is something in the comparison. Giacomo Leopardi’s ‘hodge-podge’ of personal reflections, ...
The tonal range of the letter writer is considerable—by turns emotive and subtly calculating, serious and humorous, flattering and eager to please, as well as teasing, even controlling, by virtue of ...