The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova De Seingalt, 1725-1798. Volume 01: Childhood

Here is the origin story of the most famous lover in history, told in his own electrifying voice. Born in Venice to an actress mother and a scholarly father whose lineage was steeped in illegitimacy and intrigue, young Giacomo Casanova emerges from these pages not as the legend but as a sickly, curious, dangerously observant child. We witness his mysterious childhood afflictions, including bleeding episodes that baffle physicians, and a memorable encounter with a witch who cures him through means that blur the line between folk medicine and the supernatural. These early experiences in Venice, wrapped in theatrical glamour and the occult, forge the appetite for experience that will define a legendary life. The volume culminates with his departure to Padua, where the boy's intellectual formation begins in earnest and his first fumbling encounters with love hint at the exploits to come. Casanova writes about himself with a disarming frankness and a philosopher's detachment, making this childhood memoir not merely a prologue to scandal but a remarkable document of self-understanding.