40 The Poetry of Mary Robinsonthe making of bread (Yates 18). Merry knew this history. Moreover,
he never claimed to be a member of the Accademia della Crusca,
although his 1787 poem Paulina; or, The Russian Daughter, a Poem
identifies him by name on the title page as “Member of the Royal
Academy of Florence, late La Crusca.” This is accurate. Due to still-
lingering controversies regarding the fourth edition of the Accademia
della Crusca’s Voc a b o l a r i o (1729–38) and to revolutionary activities
among Tuscan patriots, the Grand Duke Leopold (brother to Marie
Antoinette), later Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, closed the acad-
emy or, rather, nominally merged it with two defunct institutions
to form the Accademia Fiorentina in 1783. While in Florence from
1782 to 1786, Merry associated with former members of the Cruscan
academy, who elected him to membership in the new Leopoldine
one.^13 Just as the original Della Cruscans constituted a network so in
Florence Merry found himself in a new network closely affiliated with
the original one. Looking ahead to the network established by and
in the World, Merry knew very well that his signature literally means
“man of bran” and, by allusion to this well- established history, “bad
poet” or, in an ironical sense, “good poet.”
Back in London, in the columns of the World, the “Della Crusca”
pseudonym began as a joke between Topham and Merry. Most readers
today encounter the Della Crusca–Anna Matilda exchange as it was
repackaged in The Poetry of the World and The British Album. The orig-
inal newspaper publications, however, provide some additional nuances
that point to the playfulness of these poems and of this particular net-
work. Merry’s “The Adieu and Recall to Love,” which began the Della
Crusca phenomenon, actually appeared unsigned on 28 July 1787 in
the venerable General Evening Post. When it appeared in the World the
next day, Topham added the signature “Del Crusca” as an inside joke
perhaps, as Merry himself confirms in the Preface to his poem Diversity
(viii). The avatar was exclusive to the World at first, a kind of branding
of Merry’s verse. Topham prefaced the poem with the following note
“To the Conductor of the WORLD”—that is, to himself:Sir,
The following Poem needs no recommendation but its own merit; and
I send it to you, because with you it will be most seen. The author of
it will occasionally appear in the World, though he will be unknown.
If Mrs. Piozzi, therefore, should ever remember to have seen what may
henceforward appear, let her conceal the name of the author, under
that of
DEL CRUSCA9780230100251_03_ch01.indd 409780230100251_03_ch01.indd 40 12/31/2010 4:20:13 PM12/31/2010 4:20:13 PM
10.1057/9780230118034 - The Poetry of Mary Robinson, Daniel RobinsonCopyright material from www.palgraveconnect.com - licensed to Universitetsbiblioteket iTr
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