Parmas, Real And Imagined

[poliphilo]

 I asked the Internet whether Stendhal's Parma had anything to do the actual, historical and still-existing city of Parma and the answer was "Not a lot".  Although it carries the name of a real city it is as fictitious as Trollope's Barchester and its people as wholly invented as the Proudies and Mr Slope.  Stendhal presumed that his readers wouldn't know or care- and if he and they didn't then why should we?

Still, I like to get these things straight....