Casanova is known for being an eclectic figure: writer, libertine, adventurer, and diplomat. However, perhaps less well known is his passion for esotericism, occultism, Kabbalah, and Freemasonry, to which he was affiliated and which allowed him not only to make important political connections but also to deepen his knowledge of esoteric doctrines. Casanova practiced a form of Kabbalah for divination purposes, based on the correspondence between numbers and letters (gematria), and in his daring adventures, he met figures such as Cagliostro and Count Saint-Germain, key figures in the occultism of the time. Yet his relationship with esotericism was contradictory. On the one hand, he showed a curiosity that led him to explore various occult doctrines; on the other, he revealed a decidedly pragmatic, opportunistic, and disenchanted approach, detached from any doctrine. In his autobiography, he did not hide how he used esotericism to exploit people’s credulity in order to obtain wealth, prestige, and social power, showing himself once again to be a modern, if not post-modern, character.

Table of contents:

Introduction by Daniele Franco

Jean-Marc Mandosio, “Una buona dose di superstizione”: Giacomo Casanova e le forze occulte

Mauro Ruggiero, Appunti per una mappa “esoterica” dell’Europa casanoviana

Federico Barbierato, Manoscritti inquieti. Libri, cultura magica e società nella Venezia di Casanova

Gian Mario Cazzaniga, Casanova e la massoneria

Tom Fischer, Gli ultimi bagliori dell’alchimia, ovvero il declino di una scienza nella Francia dell’Illuminismo

Simona Cigliana, Casanova tra libertinage érudit ed esoterismo. Percorsi e resistenze di una ricezione

Francesca Guglielmi, Giacomo Casanova tra sapere scientifico ed esoterico

Matteo Leta, Casanova, gli impostori e i ciarlatani nella letteratura della prima età moderna

Piero Latino, La religione nelle venti giornate dell’Icosameron di Casanova

Piero Latino, Metafisica dello spirito nella letteratura europea dell’età della ragione, da Swedenborg a Blake fino agli illuminati di Nerval

Francesco Piraino, A mo’ di conclusione: arte ed esoterismo, cosa ci dicono le scienze umane e sociali?