Histoire de ma vie (The Story of My Life) is the unfinished memoir and autobiography of Giacomo Casanova, a well-known 18th-century Venetian adventurer. An earlier, censored version was first published in English as The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova (based on the French Mémoires de Jacques Casanova) until the original version was released between 1960 and 1962. The uncensored English translation was published between 1966 and 1971.

From 1838 to 1960, all editions of the memoirs were based on earlier censored versions published in German and French during the early 1800s. Arthur Machen used one of these incomplete versions for his English translation in 1894, which became the standard English edition for many years.

Although Casanova was born in Venice, Italy, on April 2, 1725, and died in Dux, Bohemia (now Duchcov, Czech Republic), on June 4, 1798, the book is written in French, which was the language most commonly used by educated people during his time. The book describes Casanova’s life only up to 1774, even though the full title of the book is Histoire de ma vie jusqu'à l'an 1797 (History of My Life until the Year 1797).

On February 18, 2010, the National Library of France bought the 3,700-page manuscript of Histoire de ma vie for about €7 million (£5,750,000). The manuscript is believed to have been given to Casanova’s nephew, Carlo Angiolini, in 1798. It is thought to include pages that had never been read or published before. After this purchase, a new edition of the book, based on the manuscript, was published by the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade between 2013 and 2015.

Contents of the book

The book has 12 volumes and about 3,500 pages (1.2 million words) that tell the story of Casanova's life from his birth until 1774.

Story of the manuscript

Casanova is said to have written the first chapters of the book in 1789 while he was very sick.

In 1794, Casanova met Charles Joseph, Prince de Ligne. They became friends. The Prince wanted to read Casanova’s memoirs, so Casanova worked to improve the manuscript before sending it. After reading the first three volumes, the Prince suggested showing the memoir to an editor in Dresden to publish it in exchange for a yearly income. Casanova agreed to publish but chose a different path. In 1797, he asked Marcolini Di Fano, a minister in the Saxon court, to help with the publication.

In May 1798, Casanova was alone in Dux. He predicted his death and asked family members in Dresden to come to him. Carlo Angiolini, the husband of Casanova’s niece, traveled quickly from Dresden to Dux. After Casanova’s death, Carlo returned to Dresden with the manuscript. Carlo died in 1808, and the manuscript went to his daughter, Camilla. Because of the Napoleonic Wars, the political situation made it hard to publish the memoirs of someone from an older time. After the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, Marcolini reminded Camilla’s tutor about the manuscript and offered 2,500 thalers. The tutor thought the offer was too small and refused.

Years later, economic problems reduced the family’s wealth. Camilla asked her brother Carlo to sell the manuscript quickly. In 1821, it was sold to the publisher Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus. Brockhaus asked Wilhelm von Schütz to translate the book into German. Some parts of the translation and the first volume were published as early as 1822. Brockhaus and Schütz stopped working together in 1824 after the fifth volume was published. The remaining volumes were translated by another, unknown person.

Because the German edition was popular, the French editor Victor Tournachon decided to publish the book in France. Tournachon could not access the original manuscript, so his French edition was translated from the German version. The text was heavily censored. To stop piracy, Brockhaus released a second French edition edited by Jean Laforgue (1782–1852). This edition was unreliable because Laforgue changed Casanova’s religious and political views and removed sexual details. French volumes were published from 1826 to 1837. These editions were also successful, leading to another French pirate edition translated from the German version. At the time, the German edition was not fully published, so this edition may have included invented passages.

From 1838 to 1960, all editions of the memoirs were based on one of these versions. Arthur Machen used one of these inaccurate versions for his English translation published in 1894, which became the standard English edition for many years.

The original manuscript was kept in the publisher’s main office in Leipzig until 1943, when the office closed. Brockhaus saved the manuscript by storing it in a bank just before the 1943 bombings of Leipzig. In June 1945, American troops moved the manuscript to the new main office in Wiesbaden. In 1960, a partnership between Brockhaus and the French publisher Plon led to the first original edition of the manuscript.

In 2010, with the help of an anonymous donor, the manuscript was bought by the Bibliothèque nationale de France for over $9 million, the most expensive purchase in the library’s history.

Main editions

This first edition is a censored German version of the text for Brockhaus. The first half was translated by Wilhelm von Schütz, and the rest was translated by an unknown person. Its original title is: Aus den Memoiren des Venetianers Jacob Casanova de Seingalt, oder sein Leben, wie er es zu Dux in Böhmen niederschrieb. Nach dem Original-Manuscript bearbeitet von Wilhelm von Schütz.

The success of this German edition led to a pirate version by Tournachon-Molin, which did not use the original manuscript. The first French edition was a translation from the German version by Schütz, resulting in a text that was not accurate or complete.

Because of the pirate edition, Brockhaus decided to publish its own French edition. This edition used the original manuscript but was still heavily censored and rearranged by Jean Laforgue. Laforgue changed parts of the text and added some of his own. Four chapters from the manuscript were not returned to the publisher. The edition was prepared between 1825 and 1831, but delays caused by censorship slowed its publication, especially after the book was added to the Index Librorum Prohibitorum in 1834.

Several editions were based on the Laforgue version:

• The Garnier edition (1880), which was popular and inexpensive.
• The La Sirène edition (1924–1935).
• The first Pléiade edition (1958–1960).

The popularity of the Laforgue edition led to a new pirate version in France. This edition copied the first eight volumes of the Laforgue version but used the Tournachon-Molin translation for the remaining volumes because the Laforgue edition was delayed by censorship. The publisher, Paulin, asked a journalist named Philippe Busoni to complete the project. Busoni wrote the last two volumes, adding new stories he created.

Later reprints of the Busoni edition include:

• The Rozez edition (1860).
• The Flammarion edition (1871–1872).

The original manuscript was hidden for many years to prevent further piracy. Wars and economic problems slowed efforts to publish it until the late 1950s.

The first complete and authentic version of the text was published between 1960 and 1962. It included the original text, except for four missing chapters, which were replaced with Laforgue’s version and notes by Schütz.

The Bouquins edition (1993, reprinted in 1999) became the first official French reference version. It was based on the Brockhaus-Plon edition and included notes from the La Sirène edition, many unpublished texts from Casanova’s archives, and updates about new discoveries. It was published by Robert Laffont in 12 volumes across three books. The edition was edited by Francis Lacassin.

After the manuscript was acquired by the Bibliothèque nationale de France, a new Pléiade edition was published from 2013 to 2015. This edition, published by Gallimard, followed the original manuscript closely. It was released in three volumes over three years and included Casanova’s original formatting, punctuation, and Italian words. The edition was edited by Gérard Lahouati and Marie-Françoise Luna, with help from Furio Luccichenti and Helmut Watzlawick. It included two prefaces, one by Lahouati titled Un miroir magique (A Magic Mirror), and one by Luna titled L'autre Casanova: des maîtres, des échos, des voix (The Other Casanova: the Masters, the Echoes, the Voices). The edition also added footnotes that translated difficult words, explained Latin quotes, and included Casanova’s revisions, showing his writing process and thoughts.

Additional publication history

• Jacques Casanova de Seingalt Vénitien, Histoire de ma vie (in French). Wiesbaden, Paris: F.A. Brockhaus; Librairie Plon. 1960. OCLC 635696012, 163781441. 12 volumes in 6; the first edition of the original text, with four missing chapters replaced by text from the Laforgue edition, and notes from the Schütz edition.
• Lacassin, Francis (editor) (1993). Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, Histoire de ma vie, suivie de textes inédits (in French). Paris: Éditions Robert Laffont. ISBN 978-2-221-06520-4. OCLC 30477736. This revised version of the Brockhaus-Plon edition is now the standard reference edition.

Casanova’s memoirs have been published in more than 20 languages and 400 editions, mostly in French, English, and German. The main translations are based on the Brockhaus-Plon reference edition. The only complete English translation from this edition is by Willard R. Trask, cited below. Willard R. Trask shared the U.S. National Book Award’s inaugural Award for Translated Literature for the first volume of this work.

• The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova … Now for the first time translated into English. Translated by Machen, Arthur. Privately printed by Bartholomew Robson. 1894. OCLC 1346944880. This is a complete translation of the censored Laforgue text. E-book versions include: The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt: The First Complete and Unabridged English Translation. Translated by Machen, Arthur. New York: Putnam. 1902. OCLC 1157146928 – via Internet Archive. The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete. Translated by Machen, Arthur. Project Gutenberg. 2021-06-04 [2004-11-11]. EBook-No. 2981.
• History of My Life. Translated by Trask, Willard Ropes. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World. 1966–1971. ISBN 978-0-15-141085-9. OCLC 557553. This is Trask’s complete translation of the Brockhaus-Plon reference edition.
• The Story of My Life. Translated by Sartarelli, Stephen; Hawkes, Sophie. New York; Saint Paul, MN: Marsilio Publishers; Distributed in the U.S. by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution. 2000. ISBN 978-1-56886-063-3. OCLC 44789122. This is a shortened translation of one-eighth of the Brockhaus-Plon edition of the original manuscript. Reissued by Penguin Books: OCLC 46359659, 59378537.

• Aus den Memoiren des Venetianers Jacob Casanova de Seingalt; oder, Sein Leben, wie er es zu Dux in Böhmen niederschrieb (in German). Translated by von Schütz, Wilhelm. Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus. 1822–1828. OCLC 609842345 – via HathiTrust. This is a censored 12-volume translation of the original manuscript, regularly reedited starting in 1850.
• Loos, Erich (editor) (1964–1967). Geschichte meines Lebens (in German). Translated by Sauter, Heinz. Berlin: Propyläen Verl. OCLC 58590521. This is a complete 12-volume translation of the Brockhaus-Plon edition of the original manuscript. Reedited starting in 1985.

• Historia de mi vida (in Spanish). Translated by Romano Haces, Luis; Ogg, Luis. [Barcelona]: Libros y Publicaciones Periódicas. 1984. ISBN 978-84-7591-034-5. OCLC 434466360. This edition is based on the censored Laforgue version.
• Historia de mi vida (in Spanish). Translated by Armiño, Mauro. Preface by Félix de Azúa. Girona, España: Atalanta. 2009. ISBN 978-84-937247-4-0. OCLC 630188143. This is a complete translation of the Brockhaus-Plon edition of the original manuscript.

• Storia della mia vita (in Italian). Translated by Oglio, Enrico dall’; Cinti, Decio. Published under the direction of Gerolamo Lazzeri. Milano: Edizioni "Corbaccio". 1924–1926. OCLC 608851861 – via HathiTrust. First complete Italian translation of the censored Laforgue text. Reedited and reissued in the 1960s: Cordié, Carlo (editor) (1961–1963). Storia della mia vita (in Italian). Roma: Edizioni Cassini. OCLC 23154755. Storia della mia vita (in Italian). Milano: Dall’Oglio. 1964. OCLC 1356751