«Elated by the Roman success of Antigone (cat. n. 25), Alfieri, under advice of Francesco Gori Gandellini, decided to print his tragedies with the aid of the printing-house in Siena belonging to Vincenzo Pazzini Carli. The poet's choice can be explained by his appreciation of the culture and atmosphere of this town where he had stayed often and with great pleasure. In March 1783 the first two volumes of his tragedies are printed and in Autumn the third. Alfieri finds the edition (cat. n. 55) unsatisfactory and on many occasions he complains about Pazzini. Nevertheless, he engages himself scrupulously with the distribution of the copies.
   The echo caused by his tragedies was noteworthy: almost unanimously the men of letters, amongst whom Cesarotti, criticized the harshness of his style. Ranieri dei Calzabigi, a highly respected theatrical expert, wrote to Alfieri a letter full of praise but not without objections. Alfieri's Risposta discusses in detail the reasons sustained by his interlocutor and his own. In Siena the debate between his opponents and sustainers was heated, as witnessed by many publications. There were also cases of writers who vied with Alfieri, such as Alessandro Pepoli who Alfieri scorned in the same way as he did his slanderers and opposers.