ITALY (LITERATURE ) 



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number of observations. With all the lovers of 

 natural science and of chemistry, Volta is an 

 honoured name. In the study of the natural history 

 of man and of anatomy, Gagliardi, Malpighi, Paolo 

 Manfredi, and, after them, Valsalva, Santorini, Fan- 

 toni and Morgagni were distinguished. Practical 

 medicine likewise was not neglected. Franc. Torti 

 taught the use of Peruvian bark ; Rammazini trode in 

 Sydenliam's footsteps in pathology and therapeutics ; 

 Borelli, Baglivi (who followed Hippocrates, how- 

 ever, in practice), Guglielmini, Bellini and Michelotti 

 made Italy the birthplace of the latromathematical 

 school in medicine. In literary history, the labours 

 of Crescimbeni, Quadrio Fontanini, A. Zeno, Maz- 

 zucchelli Fabroni, Tiraboschi, Corniani and others 

 (of Arteaga, for example, for the history of the opera), 

 are highly valuable. 



Eighth Period. Italian Literature of the present 

 Day, since 1820. Of late years, the literature of 

 Italy is not to be compared, either in extent or in 

 profoundness, with the literature of the neighbouring 

 countries. The indolence which springs from a too 

 favourable climate, the restraints arising fl-om the 

 political state of the country and the condition of the 

 book trade, which, in several parts of the peninsula, 

 is under great restrictions, oppose serious obstacles 

 to the free interchange of ideas. The infringements 

 in one city on the copyrights of others increase these 

 difficulties. The universities of Pavia and Padua still 

 maintain their hereditary reputation, and augment it 

 by a zealous cultivation of the natural sciences ; 

 Pisa may stand next to them ; Sienna and Perugia 

 have made less effort to deserve the notice of foreign 

 countries, and the universities of Rome, Naples, and 

 Turin are of a limited character. With these uni- 

 versities, to which, in Lombardy, gymnasia and ele- 

 mentary schools afford suitable preparation, a number 

 of" academies are appropriated to every department 

 of science and art, though they are not all so active 

 as the Lombardo-Venetian institution at Milan, which 

 has published several valuable volumes of memoirs. 

 Names like Oriani, Carlini, Breislak, Configliachi, 

 Brunatelli, are the best pledges of its devotion to the 

 exact sciences. After it, the academy at Turin 

 (Memorie della R. Accad. delle Scienze di Torino, 

 vol. xxx., 1826), and the scientific society of Mo- 

 dena (Memorie della Societd Ital. delle Scienze resi- 

 dente in Modena,i. 19), deserve honourable mention. 

 Foreign countries rarely hear any thing concerning 

 the scientific bodies of Naples. The Hercnlanean 

 academy at present pays, for the most part, with 

 promises, and the sessions of many other academies 

 are mere ceremonies. The Crusca and the Accad. 

 de' Georgofili at Florence, with the Accad. Archeolo- 

 gica at Rome, alone sustain their place in the memory 

 of foreign countries. Among the periodicals, the 

 Bibiioteca Italiana is a work of merit, and exerts a 

 decisive influence by means of sagacious criticisms ; 

 but it has been often disfigured by injustice and 

 harshness, especially when under Acerbi's guidance. 

 Brugnatelli and Configliacchi's Giornale di Fisica, 

 Chimica, Storia naturale, Medicina ed Arti, is the 

 periodical most deserving the notice of foreign coun- 

 tries. The study of the Oriental languages, in Italy, 

 is not so much advanced as in other countries. Gr. 

 Castiglioni's explanation of the coins in the cabinet of 

 Milan has found an impartial critic in Frahn of 

 Petersburg ; and Rampoldi's Annali Musulmanni 

 (Milan, 1823, 5 vols.) display a judicious and critical 

 use of Oriental souices. Much has been done for the 

 diffusion of the knowledge of the Armenian language 

 by the publications of the Metocharists of St Lazzaro, 

 in the vicinity of Venice ; and father Auger, the 

 Venetian editor of Moses of Chorene, and the dis- 

 coverer of an ancient Armenian translation of Philo 



(Ven., 1822), is said to be distinguished for know- 

 ledge of the language. Europe acknowledges An- 

 gelo Maio's merits in increasing the means of acquir- 

 ing a knowledge of ancient classical literature. The 

 discovery of the fragments of Cicero De Rcpullica, 

 and of so many other remnants of a classic age 

 (though the complete Pronto did not correspond to 

 its fame and the general expectation), give Maio 

 lasting claims to the gratitude of scholars. Maio's 

 success induced professor Peyron, at Turin, to make 

 similar searches into the treasures of the public 

 library intrusted to him, and his sagacity was not 

 altogether fruitless. Mazzuchelli of Milan contri- 

 buted to the extension of ancient literature by the 

 Johanneis of Corippus (Milan, 1820), and Rossini by 

 the publication of Eudemus, from Herculanean 

 manuscripts. Ciampi, after his return from Warsaw 

 to Italy, Manzi, Amati, Nibby, are among those who 

 have rendered service to classical literature by valu- 

 able commentaries. The count Ippoliti Pindemonti's 

 translation of the Odyssey (Verona, 1822, 2 vols.), 

 the odes of Pindar, by Mezzanotte (Pisa, 1819 and 

 1820, 2 vols.), and the Isthmian odes (Le Odi 1st- 

 miche di Pindaro traduzione di Gius. Borghi, Pisa, 

 1822), by Borghi, Mancini's Iliad, in stanzas (Flor. 

 1824), can satisfy those only who do not exact a 

 strict fidelity of translation. Among the translations 

 from modern languages into the Italian, are the 

 works of Sir Walter Scott and Byron. Klopstock's 

 Messiah was translated by Andrea Maffei. Bossi's 

 Storia d'ltalia antica e moderna (Milan) dwells very 

 long on ancient times, and shows very frequent traces 

 of French influence. There still appear historical 

 works, which are better received by foreigners than 

 by the country to which they belong ; as the above- 

 mentioned Famiglie celebri Italiane of the count 

 Pompeo Litta (Milan, since 1820) ; the Storia di 

 Milano, by Rosmini ; the Codice diplomatico Colombo 

 Americano (Genoa, 1823) ; Scina's Prosp. della Sto- 

 ria letter, della Sicilia, and Spotorno's excellent 

 Storia letter, della Liguria (Genoa, 1824) ; Beuci's 

 Elogi, and Aftb's Vita di Pierluigi Farnese, though 

 the last belongs to the more favourite department of 

 biography, for which materials may be found in 

 Pelli's Memorie per la Vita di Dante (Florence, 

 1823) ; Nelli's Vita e Commercio Letterario di Gali- 

 leo Galilei (Florence 1793, but not published till 

 1820), and contributions in the Biografia Cremonese, 

 by Lancetti, and in the Italian edition of the Biogra- 

 fia Universale (Venice, Missiaglia). One hope, 

 however, notwithstanding such are the signs of the 

 times, remains to the friend of Italian literature, that 

 the abundance of monuments of former times in this 

 land will always preserve alive historical recollec- 

 tions. The explanation of the present gives an 

 opportunity to recur to the past, and to animate its 

 dim recollections by their connexion with tangible 

 realities. How interesting, for example, is the his- 

 tory of the cathedral of Milan ! But Italy's associa- 

 tions are not limited to Christian times. L'ltalia 

 avanti il Dominio de' Romani, by Micali (new ed. 

 Livorno, 1821, folio), indicates the point to which the 

 inquirer may ascend. Investigations connected with 

 ancient monuments cannot be wanting in a country 

 where so much remains to be explored. Inghirami's 

 Monument i Etruschi o di Etrusco Nome, the illustra- 

 tions of the editor of the Galeria di Firenze, so far as 

 they relate to ancient monuments ; the Memoirs of 

 the archaeological academy of Rome, and the rare 

 works of the Bourbon academy, are among the phe- 

 nomena not to be overlooked in foreign countries ; 

 and the essays of Nibby, Fea, Borghesi, Lama, Cat- 

 taneo, and Brocchi, unite solidity with perspicuity and 

 a comprehensive survey. But how little the proper 

 mode of treating this department is understood, may 

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