Correspondence of Theodorico Pietrocala Rossetti and Piero Guicciardini

Collection of printed circulars and manuscript letters sewn, stuck or left loose in a book with 'The Lord's work in Italy' written on the front cover. Also included are circulars reporting the 'Lord's Work in Spain', kept on record by the editors of The Missionary Echo that became Echoes of Service. The collection illustrates contact between the editors William Yapp, John Lindsay Maclean and Henry Dyer with Count Guicciardini and T.P. Rossetti after the Italian's exile in England in the 1850's. It also details the progression of the Italian Evangelization project that Guicciardini and Rossetti embarked on to spread the word of the Gospel throughout Italy. The collection details donations for the project from England through Yapp, Maclean and Dyer, printed publications relating the issues and progress of the project, and also personal accounts from Rossetti of his experiences in Italy, and the problems faced by himself and his followers, especially concerning the Great Crisis of 1863-4 relating to Waldension opposition and rivalry. There are accounts of the first 'Agape' of 1868 and the progress of the Italian movement through to the 1880's. The majority of the letters are dated from Florence, where C.P. Guicciardini and Rossetti were both based.

Theodorico Pietrocala Rossetti (1825-1883) was the cousin of the famous artist and poet Gabriel Rossetti and of the hymn writer Christina Rossetti. He was involved in a political uprising in 1848, was condemned to death and escaped to London, arriving in 1852. He then met Count Piero Guicciardini, a fellow Italian who has been exiled because of his revisions to the first edition of the Italian Bible, which became known as the 'Guicciardini Bible'. Guicciardini became the 'instrument of conversion' for Rossetti. They met William Yapp, Robert Chapman, George Müller, Lord Congleton, Dr. J. L. Maclean, Henry Dyer and others. When Rossetti was able to return back to Italy, he and the Count travelled extensively and spread the work of the Gospel. In 1867 Rossetti and his wife moved to Florence, in an apartment in Guicciardini's house due to Rossetti's poor health. In 1868 they performer the first 'Agape' of a collection of Evangelists in Italy. By 1872 there were around 30 different groups of Evangelists in rural areas of North Italy and its small cities. In 1874 Rossetti was baptised, 18 years after his conversion. William Yapp stirred up interest in the Lord's work in Italy, issuing several reports on the problems there in his Letters of Interest and from 1866 to 1883 as The Gospel in Italy issued from Leominster under the signatures of Yapp and Maclean (his brother-in-law). W.H.Bennet always considered that this work, spreading the message about missionary activity was the real beginning of the ministry of the editors of Echoes of Service.

The entire collection is made of up109 individual pieces contained within one singular notebook, some are still attached to the original binding. The individual pieces have obviously been bound within the collection at a later date, but the original order of the pieces has been maintained, despite some of the pieces coming away from the original binding.

The collection is open to any accredited reader.

Echoes of Service

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A number of items within the archive remain within copyright under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988; it is the responsibility of users to obtain the copyright holder's permission for reproduction of copyright material for purposes other than research or private study.

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Donated through T.C.F. Stunt by Echoes of Service. His Uncle, W.T. Stunt was editor of Echoes of Service between 1947-1978. The book was kept amongst the records of Echoes of Service.

The University of Manchester Library also holds the papers of Echoes of Service, the Christian Brethren missionary service organisation (GB 133 EOS).

Grass, Tim, Gathering to His Name (Milton Keynes: Paternoster Press, 2006).