The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Volume 17: Return to Italy

A first-person memoir recounts a return to Italy, following travels through Genoa, Tuscany, and Rome and focusing on social encounters, theatrical projects, and intimate relationships. The narrator organizes and translates a play, directs rehearsals, manages actors, and uses patronage to introduce a young woman, Rosalie, to society; the narrative records dinners, financial dealings with bankers, courtship by a marquis, and a failed approach by an impostor claiming a Russian connection. Episodes mix practical details—money exchanges, casting disputes, and rehearsals—with reflections on coquetry, performance, and the narrator's strategies for protecting and promoting those close to him.