The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Volume 10: under the Leads

In Short

This volume chronicles Giacomo Casanova’s famous 1755 imprisonment in the Venetian State Inquisition’s infamous prison, the Leads, and his audacious, meticulously planned escape. Confined in oppressive heat, tormented by vermin, and monitored by ruthless guards, Casanova relies on his quick wits, mathematical mind, and sheer iron will to engineer a way out through the rooftops of the Doge’s Palace. Moving rapidly from the grim claustrophobia of his dungeon to the high-stakes financial circles of Paris, this volume endures as a masterclass in autobiographical suspense, psychological resilience, and the relentless pursuit of personal freedom.

The Story

The narrative opens in July 1755 with a sudden, terrifying arrest. Venice’s State Inquisitors send their officer, Messer-Grande, to seize Casanova at his lodgings, confiscating his books, personal letters, and manuscripts on occult arts and planetary hours. Marched across the Bridge of Sighs, Casanova is thrust into the garrets of the Doge's Palace—a brutal prison known as "the Leads" for its scorching lead-plated roof. Alone in a suffocatingly hot cell, starved, deprived of light, and tortured by swarms of fleas and noise, he experiences the profound psychological agony of solitary confinement.

Rather than succumbing to despair, Casanova devotes every waking hour to his liberation. Acquiring a heavy iron bar by chance, he painfully grinds it into a sharp pike on a whetstone. Just as he finishes drilling a hole through his wooden floor, he is abruptly transferred to a new cell, nearly losing his mind as the gaoler discovers his work. Undeterred, Casanova adapts. He establishes a secret correspondence with Father Balbi, a rogue monk imprisoned nearby. Using a heavy folio Bible to smuggle the pike past the guards, Casanova instructs Balbi to break through the ceiling from above.

On the night of October 31, 1756, Casanova, Balbi, and two other prisoners make their break. Crawling over the steep, slippery lead roofs in total darkness, Casanova forces a window into the state archives and slips down into the ducal chancery. Hacking through a heavy wooden door with his pike, he dresses in fine clothes, slips past the unsuspecting palace guards at daybreak, and takes a gondola to the mainland.

Once free, Casanova must navigate the treachery of his companions and the pursuit of the Inquisition's spies. He rids himself of the cowardly Balbi by trickery, secures money through sheer nerve, and flees across borders through Munich to Paris. Reaching France penniless but undaunted, Casanova reinvented himself. Leveraging his razor-sharp intellect and social charm, he pitches a state-backed lottery scheme to the French Foreign Minister and key financiers. By convincing the Crown that mathematical probability ensures a public lottery will net millions, he secures a lucrative commission, establishes his wealth, and triumphantly embeds himself in Parisian high society.

How It Unfolds

Seized by the Tribunal Messer-Grande raids Casanova’s room at dawn, confiscating his letters, literary manuscripts, and books on magical incantations before hauling him away to the feared council.

The Horror of Solitary Locked inside a sweltering cell beneath the lead roof, Casanova battles extreme isolation, filthy conditions, sleeplessness from rats, and the overwhelming bites of thousands of fleas.

Crafting the Pike Finding an iron bar among discarded junk in the garret, Casanova painstakingly sharpens it into a lethal chisel, working in secret using an improvised oil lamp.

The Betrayal of Discovery On the eve of digging through his floor, a sudden cell transfer exposes his attempt to the gaoler, but Casanova manages to conceal his iron tool in an armchair.

Smuggling through the Bible Casanova coordinates an escape scheme with Father Balbi, hiding the iron pike inside the binding of a massive folio Bible to transfer it to the neighboring cell.

Across the Slippery Roofs Breaking out through the ceiling on Halloween night, the fugitives scale the steep, dangerous roof of the Doge’s Palace in the dark, risking a fatal fall into the piazza below.

Breaking into the Chancery Forcing their way down through the palace archives, Casanova hacks through a heavy chancery door with his pike and strolls out the front gates disguised as an official.

Confrontation in the Woods When Father Balbi refuses to separate on the mainland, Casanova coolly digs a grave in the earth with his pike and threatens to bury the monk alive until he agrees to part ways.

Conquering Paris with Math Arriving in France destitute, Casanova secures an audience with top ministers and orchestrates the creation of the French National Lottery, turning probability theory into personal fortune.

The People

• Giacomo Casanova: The sharp-witted Venetian protagonist. Driven by an insatiable desire for freedom and personal distinction, he uses his knowledge of engineering, law, and human psychology to overcome his captors and rebuild his life in exile.
• Lawrence (Lorenzo): The primary gaoler of the Leads. Crafty, greedy, and easily panicked, he inadvertently helps Casanova by agreeing to move books, bedding, and supplies without inspecting them closely.
• Father Balbi: A fellow prisoner and renegade monk. Selfish, fearful, and quarrelsome, he serves as Casanova's reluctant accomplice in cutting through the prison roofs, though his cowardice nearly dooms the escape.
• Francis Soradaci: A snitch and fellow inmate placed in Casanova's cell to spy on him. Credulous and deeply superstitious, he is completely manipulated by Casanova, who uses fake divine visions and terrifying oaths to keep him silent.
• M. Paris du Vernai: A powerful French financier and royal counselor. Practical and keen-minded, he recognizes the genius in Casanova’s state lottery scheme and becomes his key sponsor in Paris.

In Its Own Voice

"The loneliness behind the prison bars is terrible, but it must be learnt by experience to be understood, and such an experience I would not wish even to my enemies."

Confined to a dark, narrow cell without books, paper, or human companionship, Casanova reflects on the maddening agony of total isolation.

"Situated as I was, liberty reckons for all, and life for nothing, or rather for very little. Thus in the depths of my soul I began to grow mad."

As an earthquake rattles the Doge's Palace, Casanova realizes he would gladly welcome the collapse of the entire building if it granted him a chance at freedom.

"I will undertake to prove before all the mathematicians in Europe that the king is bound to gain one in five in this lottery. That is the secret."

Audacious and self-assured, Casanova pitches his revolutionary financial scheme to the ministers of King Louis XV, laying the groundwork for his Parisian fortune.

What It's Really About

Beneath its thriller-like pacing, this volume is an intense study in human agency and psychological survival. Casanova explores how an individual retains sanity, dignity, and autonomy when stripped of every basic right by an arbitrary, authoritarian state. The text contrasts the dark, superstitious paranoia of the Venetian Inquisition with the rational, opportunistic intellect of the Enlightenment. Casanova demonstrates that intelligence, mathematical precision, and an unshakeable belief in one's own fate are the ultimate weapons against physical oppression. It is ultimately a testament to the belief that liberty is worth any risk, and that a adaptable mind can turn even the direst ruin into a stunning triumph.

Why Read It Today

This volume remains the undisputed peak of Casanova’s massive memoir, reading less like a 18th-century historical document and more like a high-octane escape thriller. Readers who expect merely tales of romantic conquest will be delighted to discover a gritty, methodical tale of prison break and survival. Casanova's voice is remarkably fresh, transparent, and direct—devoid of dry academic posturing.

While modern readers must navigate historical references to Venetian governance and 18th-century monetary systems, the momentum of the prose carries the narrative effortlessly. What stays with you long after reading is Casanova's sheer, infectious vitality. His ability to move seamlessly from grinding an iron bar in a rat-infested cell to debating high finance in a Parisian salon makes this one of the most compelling true-adventure narratives ever committed to paper.