ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 introduces the collection of scenarios conserved at the Biblioteca Corsiniana in Rome and entitled Raccolta di scenari più scelti d’histrioni divisi in due volumi. The Raccolta presents a broad spectrum of dramatic genres: its one hundred scenarios include seventy-five comedies, ten tragicomedies, eleven pastorals, one tragedy, and one opera reale. It was written by different hands and compiled during the second half of the 1500s in the area of Rome by either professional or amateur commedia dell’arte actors. Among all the collections, the Corsiniana scenarios are unique in that they are illustrated. Each of its hundred scenarios, in fact, is preceded by a title page with an illustration done in pencil and afterwards outlined in India ink and painted in watercolor. The chapter offers the transcription and translation of three of its scenarios: Elisa Alii Bassà (Elisa Alii Bassà), Bertolino’s Nobility (La nobiltà di Bertolino), and The Enchanted Fount (Il fonte incantato).
