pornografska litografija „Elegantiae latini sermonis“ koju u svojim memoarima spominje nitko drugi do legendarni prvak venecijanske špijunaže Giacomo Casanova.
Đakomo Kazanova (1725-1798) odista pominje Van Meursa i to u kontekstu ovog dela, lažno pripisanog njemu.
"To explain it is not enough," I answered; "it is a question which is worthy of an answer." And after considering for a moment, I wrote the following pentameter:
'Disce quod a domino nomina servus habet.'
This was my first literary exploit, and I may say that in that very instant the seed of my love for literary fame was sown in my breast, for the applause lavished upon me exalted me to the very pinnacle of happiness. The Englishman, quite amazed at my answer, said that no boy of eleven years had ever accomplished such a feat, embraced me repeatedly, and presented me with his watch. My mother, inquisitive like a woman, asked M. Grimani to tell her the meaning of the lines, but as the abbe was not any wiser than she was M. Baffo translated it in a whisper. Surprised at my knowledge, she rose from her chair to get a valuable gold watch and presented to my master, who, not knowing how to express his deep gratitude, treated us to the most comic scene. My mother, in order to save him from the difficulty of paying her a compliment, offered him her cheek. He had only to give her a couple of kisses, the easiest and the most innocent thing in good company; but the poor man was on burning coals, and so completely out of countenance that he would, I truly believe, rather have died than give the kisses. He drew back with his head down, and he was allowed to remain in peace until we retired for the night.
When we found ourselves alone in our room, he poured out his heart, and exclaimed that it was a pity he could not publish in Padua the distich and my answer.
"And why not?" I said.
"Because both are obscene."
"But they are sublime."
"Let us go to bed and speak no more on the subject. Your answer was wonderful, because you cannot possibly know anything of the subject in question, or of the manner in which verses ought to be written."
As far as the subject was concerned, I knew it by theory; for, unknown to the doctor, and because he had forbidden it, I had read Meursius, but it was natural that he should be amazed at my being able to write verses, when he, who had taught me prosody, never could compose a single line. 'Nemo dat quod non habet' is a false axiom when applied to mental acquirements.
https://dn790006.ca.archive.org/0/items/thecompletememoi02981gut/2981-h/v1.htm
Prvi primer dolazi iz prvog od njegovih 12 tomova memoara. Deo opisuje Kazanovin razgovor sa
doktorom Gocijem kod kojeg je jedno vreme živeo i kada je prošao kroz svoje prvo seksualno iskustvo sa malom sestrom opata Gocija, Betinom. Kazanova, na opasku da on o ovim stvarima ne zna ništa, misli u sebi:
Eee, pa čitao sam ja Meursija.
Ponovo ga pominje u memoarima značajno kasnije:
Da bi se malčice naložio pre nego što mu je stigla ljubavnica odevena kao monahinja, Kazanova je listao malo neke erotske slike, kako bi mu krv malo proradila da bude spreman za svoju damu. Pominje tu i Alojziju Sigejsku, ali i
gravure Meursija. Na prethodnoj stranici postavio sam jedan primer, koji bi trebalo da bude jedna od najstarijih poznatih predstava poze 69 u evropskoj istoriji snošaja. Nakon ovoga, Kazanova će preći potom na jednu strastvenu sesiju sa misterioznom ženom — zbog koje je svake nedelje slušao misu u Crkvi Santa Marija degli Angeli u Muranu — poznatom kao M. M., opisujući njeno razgolićivanje kao
transformaciju divne monahinje u prelepu nimfu.
Ova Kazanovina ljubavnica, za koju se pripremao kako je ne bi razočarao uz „Meursijeve“ uzbudjive predstave, najverovatnije bila niko drugi do Marina Marija Morozini, iz stare ugledne mletačke porodice, koja je dala puno državnika i kardinala. Srbima poznatije po tome što je Stefan Vladislav II, sin kralja Dragutina, bio oženjen Konstancom Morozini.
Kako bilo, ovo je jedan od primera, donekle slično kao i sa osnivanjem amsterdamske banke 1609. godine, kako istorija može da se potpuno konstruiše na osnovu samo površno ugrabljenih i potpuno nepovezanih informacija. U tekstu koji je napisao, gospodin Klarić je pokušao da uspostavi vezu između proslavljenog mletačkog pustolova i ovog holandskog izdavača, i to na osnovu toga što se Kazanova hvalio u svojim memoarima da je kao klinja čitao pomenuto erotsko delo i tako uprkos godinama ipak bio vragolan za svoj uzrast, a kasnije i koristio gravure koje su bile štampae kao prilog uz delo da se ubaci u mašinu za svoju ljubav dok ju je čekao.
Nešto više o Kazanovi ovde:
