Abstract
The correspondence and the intellectual relationship between the Italian idealist philosopher Benedetto Croce and the German professor Fritz Medicus is edited and reconstructed here for the first time, drawing on all relevant sources, most of which have never been considered before. The edition of the correspondence is accompanied by an important introductory essay, which reconstructs both the intellectual biography of Fritz Medicus and the crucial moments of the personal and cultural relationship between Croce and Medicus. On the one hand, the author reveals the personality of Fritz Medicus – previously known only for his editing of and commentaries abouton Fichte’s writings – stressing the value and the originality of his own intellectual production, which encompasses various philosophical fields, from ethics to aesthetics. On the other hand, she sheds new light on the troubled genesis of the masterpiece Theory and history of Historiography, conceived by Croce after his failed attempt atto writinge – aton Medicus’ urging – the volume on the philosophy of history for the Grundriss der philosophischen Wissenschaften