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Old Age and Death The Memoirs Of Jacques Casanova De Seingalt ...

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64<br />

In July 1789 there was discovered, among the papers of the Bastille, the<br />

letter which <strong>Casanova</strong> wrote from Augsburg in May 1767 to Prince Charles<br />

of Courl<strong>and</strong>e on the subject of fabricating gold. Carrel published this<br />

letter at once in the third volume of his '<strong>Memoirs</strong> authentiques et<br />

historiques sur la Bastille'. <strong>Casanova</strong> kept a copy of this letter <strong>and</strong><br />

includes it in the <strong>Memoirs</strong>.<br />

In October 1789, <strong>Casanova</strong> wrote M. Opiz that he was writing to a<br />

professor of mathematics [M. Lagrange] at Paris, a long letter in<br />

Italian, on the duplication of the cube, which he wished to publish. In<br />

August 1790, <strong>Casanova</strong> published his 'Solution du Probleme <strong>De</strong>liaque<br />

demontree <strong>and</strong> <strong>De</strong>ux corollaires a la duplication de hexadre'. On the<br />

subject of his pretended solution of this problem in speculative<br />

mathematics, <strong>Casanova</strong> engaged with M. Opiz in a heated technical<br />

discussion between the 16th September <strong>and</strong> 1st November 1790. <strong>Casanova</strong><br />

sought vainly to convince Opiz of the correctness of his solution.<br />

Finally, M. Opiz, tired of the polemics, announced that he was leaving on<br />

a six-weeks tour of inspection <strong>and</strong> that he would not be able to occupy<br />

himself with the duplication of the cube for some time to come. On the<br />

1st November, <strong>Casanova</strong> wished him a pleasant journey <strong>and</strong> advised him to<br />

guard against the cold because "health is the soul of life."<br />

In 1797, appeared the last book published during <strong>Casanova</strong>'s lifetime, a<br />

small work entitled: 'A Leonard Snetlage, docteur en droit de<br />

l'Universite de Goettingue, <strong>Jacques</strong> <strong>Casanova</strong>, docteur en droit de<br />

l'Universite de Padoue'. This was a careful criticism of the neologisms<br />

introduced into French by the Revolution. In reference to <strong>Casanova</strong>'s<br />

title of "Doctor," researches by M. Favoro at the University of Padua had<br />

failed to establish this claim, although, in the <strong>Memoirs</strong> <strong>Casanova</strong> had<br />

written:

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