I ricordi dello sfortunato viaggo "Da Milano a Damasco" di Antonio Stoppani

The essay examines the volume Da Milano a Damasco by Antonio Stoppani, which collects memories of the expedition carried out in 1874 by the abbot and geologist from Lecco, by eight other priests and by a Milanese patrician. It was first published in 1888 (Milan, Lodovico Felice Cogliati) and had two other subsequent and posthumous editions; but it was also anticipated by a stratification of different writings and literary genres, in particular two letters and two poems with their respective translations into Latin, published in a small volume entitled Ricordo del mio viaggio in Oriente, printed in the first edition in Milan, by Libreria Editrice Lombarda (1875), and later included in the Asteroidi collection (Milan, Giacomo Agnelli's Printing House, 1879). The major work has been neglected for a long time, but deserves to be re-considered. It is a travel book which, thanks to the structure of the report, a clear and incisive style, a rich and adequate lexicon, introduces the reader to various aspects of the Near East: the landscape, physical and human geography, customs, religion, history, climate.