Umberto Saba and Italo Svevo

Umberto Saba, Epigrafe di Italo Svevo (“Epigraph of Italo Svevo”)
typescript with handwritten signature, [undated]
The text was composed by Saba for the 1929 issue of Omaggio a Italo (“Tribute to Italo Svevo”) Svevo in the magazine “Solaria”. The poet’s summary of Svevo’s oeuvre is interesting: he mentions four novels, evidently including the preparatory material for the unfinished Il Vegliardo (“The Old Man”), and a “flowery tale of fables” (destined to turn into “a sweet long tale blooming with fables” in the final draft) in which the short story Una burla riuscita (“A Successful Prank”) is recognisable.

Italo Svevo all’ammiragliato britannico. Ricordo di Umberto Saba (“Italo Svevo at the British Admiralty. Remembrance of Umberto Saba”)
Trieste, Raifon, 1955; audio disc, 33 1/3 rpm
Saba’s memoir, where he recounts Svevo’s first business trip to London with great irony, was broadcast by the first regional RAI programme of Friuli Venezia Giulia on 27th June 1958.