Come lavorava Frazer. Appunti per un’analisi variantistica del mito di Nemi ne Il Ramo d’Oro

Abstract

This paper examines the evolution of the opening passage of The Golden Bough by James George Frazer, focusing on the priesthood of Nemi and its ritualistic violence. Through an analysis of Frazer’s autograph marginalia and unpublished variants preserved at the Wren Library in Cambridge (Trinity College Library, Adv. C.21.68-71), the study traces the transformation of the text from a terse anthropological account into a vivid and dramatic ekphrasis. Employing methods of authorial philology, it highlights how Frazer’s stylistic revisions – guided by classical rhetoric and romantic imagination – enhance the symbolic and sensory power of the scene, reflecting the author's broader effort to merge scientific inquiry with literary expression.