Veronica Franco (1546-1591) was “the most famous courtesan of Venice... [She] became a writer by allying herself with distinguished men at the center of her city’s culture.”  (Franco, Jones and Rosenthal)  She published Familiar Letters in 1580 and it should be preserved in the Time Capsule Project because of the way she attempted and changed the way courtesans and vulnerable women in that time period were viewed by the upper class.
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The title of the book was also the style in which it was written; a collection of 50 familiar letters, which means they were “written to a friend, but intended for eventual publication.”  There were a wide variety of topics in the letters; including invitations, thank you letters, advice, congratulations and accompanying sonnets or other papers.

Epistolary works, “the production of letters as literary artifacts” was a popular format for authors in Venice in the mid 1500s, but by 1580 when she chose to publish Familiar Letters, it was rapidly falling into disfavor.   Franco’s first work, Terze rime, published in 1575 was in the capitolo style of poetry, so she was capable and knowledgeable enough to produce a work in a more fashionable style if she chose to.  She chose this format deliberately:  the familiar letter was more intimate than poetry and Franco wanted to establish and maintain an intimacy with her audience.  (Bassanese 777)

Veronica Franco was the “epitome of the successful and gifted cortigiana onesta (honest courtesan of the Italian Renaissance... a “cultured prostitute...”  She behaved, appeared, dressed, entertained and charmed like a lady of high society, but she also “grant[ed] full erotic satisfaction” to her patrons.  (Bassanese 777)  It was a delicate balance and Franco balanced upon it well.  To anyone that did not socialize with courtesans, it was easy to imagine and criticize them for leading a debauched lives and she was trying to change that view with this volume of letters.  (Franco, Jones and Rosenthal)

Ann Jones and Margaret Rosenthal postulate several plausible theories for the format Franco chose to use in this work.  It invited others into her private salon and establish a personal dialog with whoever read her words.  People who did not have the opportunity to mingle with her lofty circle (and never doubt that she moved in the upper echelons of society - one of her clients was King Henry III) could now see how she lived her life.  They found out what she thought, how she spent her days, learned what she knew and “listened” to what she advised.  “At the same time, because it [the epistolary format] requires a grasp of the proper rhetorical forms advocated by classical authors... the letter demonstrates the learning and the savoir-faire of its writer.”  (Franco, Jones and Rosenthal 9)

I believe that Franco’s letters were largely a public relations exercise.  That is not to say that they were fabrications by any stretch of the imagination.  In my research, I have found no indication that anyone believes that she misrepresented herself.  Familiar Letters is her opportunity to shine and yet paint herself as a conventional and virtuous woman of her class.
By many people of her time, however, Franco was considered no more than a prostitute, albeit a high paid one, and was viewed with contempt.  In Letter 22, she berated the mother of a young woman for planning to start the girl on the path of a courtesan.  Franco had advised the mother, and in fact had paved the way for her, to send the daughter to the Casa delle Zitelle, a sanctuary for young girls to protect them from the fate of prostitution and keep them eligible for good marriages.  The letter was blunt, but the intent behind the words was compassionate; she was trying to keep another woman from facing the ignominy and uncertainty that Franco lived with.  (Bassanese 779) (Franco, Jones and Rosenthal 37-40)

Books written in the familiar letter style often had the names removed.  Franco made some exceptions in her book, the most notable being the salutation to Henry III, King of France in her second letter.   (Bassanese 779)  (Franco, Jones and Rosenthal 24)

According to Johnson and Rosenthal, it appears that Franco’s two books, Terze rime and Familiar Letters were published privately and it was entirely possible that she funded them herself.  As a result, this particular work was probably not widely read beyond Venice upper society.  That does not mean that Franco was unknown as a poet.  In fact, she received a commission to write for an anthology commemorating “men of the Venetian elite, such as the military hero, Estore Martinengo”.  (Rosenthal)  Commissions of that nature were not dispensed by lottery; they were earned.

After her death in 1591, interest in Franco as a person didn’t start to rise again until the early 1700s and “Familiar Letters” wasn’t republished again until 1949.  Since then, scholars and feminists have taken a fresh look at the woman who managed to live dependent upon the whims of the rich, and sometimes capricious, elite while at the same time establishing the “courtesan's virtue, reason, wisdom and fairness” as valuable people and citizens in their own right. (Rosenthal)

Franco’s Familiar Letters are tangible evidence of the life she lived in more ways than one.  Not only do they provide a record of her activities, but they also record the way she navigated the perilous nature of her existence.  Veronica Franco was a beautiful, intelligent and accomplished woman and in the 20th and 21st century, she could have created a career and life for herself that would not be dependent upon someone else’s generosity ~ but not then.
In the 16th century, Veronica Franco supported her household from the largesse of her patrons.  In other words, without her patrons, she was just a few steps above needing to accommodate anyone who would pay her fee.  Through her actions and the spoken word, Franco was able to raise herself up to same the level of humanity as the men that she socialized with and served.  She managed to make them see her as one of their equals and therefore worthy of the same consideration as an individual as they were.

That is where the subtle magic of Familiar Letters lies.  It is evidence of the beginnings of the seeds of feminism.  It wasn’t as exciting and far reaching as the works of Lucretia Marinella or Laura Cereta, but I believe the impact she had on individuals spread like ripples in a pond and helped set the stage for later change and reform.

I wanted to save Familiar Letters because it is a piece of evidence that provides a glimpse into how human beings can make life better for ourselves in the moment and, at the same time, set the stage for improving life for others in the future.  It shows how an amazing woman managed to change the way men and women in a small group related to each other.

However, as a piece of work, it does not stand well enough by itself.  One needs to know too much background information about Franco, Venice, courtesans and feminism to make this a good offering for a time capsule.  I am sad to say that I withdraw my proposal to include Familiar Letters in the Time Capsule Project.

Works Cited

Bassanese, Fiora. "Veronica Franco." Encyclopedia of Italian Literary Studies. New York. Taylor and Francis Group.   2007. Print.

Franco, Veronica, author. Jones, Ann Rosalind and Rosenthal Margaret F. translators. “Poems and Selected Letters (The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe).” The University of Chicago Press. 1998. Print.

Rosenthal, Margaret. "Biography: Franco, Veronica." Italian Women Writers. The University of Southern California, 2003. Web. 24 Sep 2012. &lt;http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/IWW&gt;